The Gotham Vigilantes
by skca54
Summary: Somebody very close to Kick-Ass and Hit Girl has been hurt. The team track the perpetrator to a city that is bent on its own destruction and is rotten to its core. That city is Gotham. A story from my 'Forsaken' universe. The story fits in, chronologically, after Chapter 173 and is in parallel with 'Forsaken'. This story is a Kick-Ass/Gotham cross-over in an Alternative Universe.
1. Vigilante Heaven

**Authors Note:** _This story has been written in response to a challenge by another writer: 'adm-frb'. This is my fourteenth (published) story, but my first (published) crossover story.  
This story belongs in my **Forsaken** universe and uses characters and events from that story. The story fits in chronologically between Chapters 173 and 174 of the current **Forsaken** story. Various other existing characters from **Forsaken** will feature in this story. All the events of this story are based in and around the City of Gotham and the 'Gotham' TV series, although in an Alternative Universe._

 _As usual, I look forward, with some trepidation, to any reviews. I promise to accept all criticism. In addition, I am still, British so my spelling and grammar may look and seem strange to some._

 ** _Synopsis:_** _This story fits into the 'Gotham' storyline around Episode 9 of Season 1, with Selina Kyle staying at Wayne Manor with Bruce Wayne, for her own safety._

* * *

 ** _September  
Thursday night_**

 ** _Gotham City_**

The night was calm and very dark.

Shadow was a block over, moving parallel to myself.

I had seen the young girl, whom I was now following, a few times over the previous nights. There was something about her that appealed to me – _and not in that way either_! She was young, probably thirteen, maybe fourteen and very athletic. She was able scurry across the rooftops like a cat and I had seen her on a couple of occasions beat the crap out of somebody almost twice her slim stature.

The girl wore black, with some weird goggles on her head and a hood. I thought I had been quite stealthy, but I must have given myself away as at one stage as she had turned towards me and then stared at me for a full minute before smiling.

"Catch me, if you can!" She called over to me, with a brief laugh.

A challenge!

The girl; I'd decided to call her 'Cat', due to the way that she was so surefooted, shot off across the rooftop and I followed hot on her heels.

"You know, this sort of behaviour is _so_ beneath you!" Shadow announced from the other building over our communications.

"Catch me, if you can!" I replied.

* * *

Unbelievable!

If I did that, I would have been shot by Hit Girl, but no, Hit Girl gallivants off on some ridiculous chase, all for fucking fun! I would just have to watch her back, so I started running across the rooftops, jumping the gaps in between the buildings.

I had to admit, it was fun to watch the chase. The girl was in front, but only by about twenty yards. Hit Girl was keeping up and narrowing the gap, although my heart almost stopped every time that they both jumped off into nothing, before coming down hard onto another roof, rolling to absorb the impact.

At the beginning of the evening both Hit Girl and I wore NVGs, although I _had_ now noticed that Hit Girl had stowed hers for less inconvenience at the speed she was moving. I was impressed by the girl; she was fast and very nimble. I estimated her as being slightly younger than I was and she did seem to have a rather nice figure beneath the steam-punk costume that she wore.

Could Hit Girl win the chase?

* * *

The chase was what I lived for!

I loved the chase, especially when I had the edge, although the purple object now pursing me was very good, despite her full bodysuit. I said 'her', noticing that the person was slim and there were definite breasts. This had to be one of those Vigilantes that I had been hearing about who operated in other cities, such as New York and Chicago. For some reason I was not scared of the ominous form pursuing me across the rooftops, but I was not sure why.

If any city needed Vigilantes, it was Gotham!

* * *

Oh, jeez, you had be kidding me; the brazen bitch was showin' off now!

I knew that Hit Girl enjoyed showboating, but one day it was going to get her into shit. Hit Girl was performing fancy somersaults and flips now, as she jumped between buildings. Yes, Hit Girl was very athletic and acrobatic to boot. Only one member of Fusion even came close to Hit Girl's standard and that was Wildcat; yeah, I was jealous of that little bitch!

My own acrobatics were useful, but my backflip was for shit, to say the least and I was the first to say that when Wildcat reached thirteen or fourteen she would be a very formidable vigilante! Assuming, of course, that she was still alive. Wildcat still had to learn, she was _not,_ as indestructible, as she thought!

If Hit Girl kept this up, something bad was going to happen!

* * *

I had to stop!

It was the first time in ages that I had run and jumped so hard. That purple Vigilante was good, very good! I sat on a convenient roof edge, my left leg dangling into nothing, while the purple Vigilante sat down a few yards away from me, to show that she intended me no harm. I took the opportunity to get a closer look at the newcomer.

The Vigilante wore a suit that was primarily purple and black with some pink. The chest was covered by what could only be armour of some sort, in the form of a contoured plate made up of flexible panels that had obviously not hindered the wearer's movements across the rooftops! I could see where a similar back plate joined under her arms. The shoulders were protected by armoured pads, which joined with additional armour that extended down the arms. The hands and lower arms were encased in similarly armoured gauntlets.

The legs and thighs were encased in armour that extended down to her boots. The Vigilante's weapons and equipment were mounted on her thigh armour and on a utility belt that ran around her waist. I could see a pair of pistols, some throwing knives and the safe end of a Katana sword that extended up from her back.

The only skin that I could see was around the lips that smiled at me. The head was encased in purple armour, too.

"Not bad!" The vigilante growled in an electronically augmented voice.

"I could say the same!" I called back.

"Till we meet again..." The purple vigilante said before she rolled off the roof and I watched as she landed on a fire escape two floors below and then headed for the street.

I gazed up and saw movement, which turned out to be another Vigilante on an adjacent building.

The other Vigilante nodded, before disappearing into the darkness.

* * *

We had spent the past three nights, including the current one, learning the City, and what an enjoyable experience it had been, too! Gotham was full of scum that deserved to be put down, or handed to the Gotham City Police Department. An interesting issue there, as to some extent the GCPD were little better than the scum they were supposed to be arresting!

Sergeant Voight, back in Chicago, had given me an insight into what was seen as the most corrupt police department on the east coast. The GCPD was rotten from its Commissioner, right down to the lowest beat Cop. There were some exceptions, but bribery and corruption was rife. Cops would turn a blind eye for the colloquial brown envelope stuffed with cash. What was worse was the fact that it was so openly being done!

There were some good Cops and I had identified a small handful who went out of their way to do their jobs properly and refuse any form of coercion. It would be useful to know which Cops could be trusted to uphold the law and who might be open to helping us, if necessary.

Ultimately, Gotham was a den of iniquity that screamed out to be cleansed. You might even go so far as to call Gotham 'heaven' for vigilantes like ourselves. So far, Shadow and I had kept to the shadows and not shown ourselves, despite having wanted to intervene, several times. We had also kept ourselves separated, so if one were seen, the other would not be compromised.

Our job was reconnaissance, the advance party, preparing the way for the rest of the team.

* * *

 ** _The Gotham Safehouse_**

We were exhausted and pleased to be back in our accommodation.

Although, the word 'accommodation' was to be applied very loosely to the rusty warehouse that would be our base. It was convenient, anonymous and very cheap. However, Mindy had been kind to us and had arranged for the ten of us to have somewhere nice to sleep. She had acquired three RVs, two for sleeping and one as a communal area.

We would be joined, in due course, by Lucille, Mia, our armoured truck, Titan and armoured pickup, Iron Hide, not to mention several motorcycles, too. For security, Dave would be driving our newly acquired, tandem-axle tractor, with a fifty-three-foot box trailer. In that trailer would be Titan and Iron Hide, under cover, plus more than a few motorcycles. The armoured vehicles were much too specialised to be driven on open roads. Marty and Erika would be driving Lucille and Mia, our two command vans that were loaded with the majority of our equipment. Chloe and I had driven the eight-hundred miles or so to Gotham, in the SUV, which was parked beside the three RVs.

The other members of our team would arrive after dark on Friday.

* * *

Despite things happening so quickly, we had made many arrangements before leaving Chicago.

Among these arrangements was the option to take up an invitation to a 'Wayne Enterprises Fundraiser'. Due to Mindy's wealth, she had previously received invitations to these events, but had never taken them up. However, now seemed the perfect opportunity!

There was to be such an event that Saturday night, at the Gotham City Opera House. Dave and I had decided that it would be a good idea to meet some of Gotham's dubious 'nobility'. Marty and Abby had rapidly compiled a lot of information on the current situation in Gotham and the City's somewhat colourful history.

It seemed that the City had improved a decent amount while the main financial core of the City was being run by billionaire Thomas Wayne. The man controlled a lot of the City and had seemed to control it well with a lot of philanthropy, but then only about six months previously, Thomas Wayne and his wife, Martha, were gunned down in what had seemed to be a mugging, and their young son Bruce was left to inherit the reins.

The City had 'benefited' from its own criminal fraternity, primarily based around two key crime families. These were the Maroni family and the Falcone family, both of Italian descent. They were very bad news and for now, they seemed to be just picking at each other, with the GCPD paid off by one or the other for protection.

I could not wait to get my teeth into Gotham.


	2. Fusion In Gotham

**_The following morning  
Friday_**

Gotham was a strange city spread over several islands, which were arranged from north to south. There was Uptown, then Midtown and Downtown as the three main islands. Wedged in between the west coasts of Uptown and Midtown was South Channel Island. South of Downtown was Sandy Hook. All the islands were connected via multiple bridges and tunnels. Each island had its own sections with the usual mix of good and bad neighbourhoods.

Uptown had the main docks for Gotham and as such had some of the more 'lower class' housing to the north and east of the island, around the docks.

Midtown had the Gotham City Police Headquarters, Wayne Tower, and the Prewitt Building, Gotham Tower and the Gotham City Opera House and some of the more affluent portions of the City's population, including the majority of the City's businesses. As an offshoot to the south, there was The Narrows, which was best avoided by all and held Arkham Asylum, an altogether horrific looking place, at its eastern end.

Downtown held the Blackgate Prison, Gotham Stock Exchange and Gotham City Hall. The Major Crimes Unit was also located a few blocks from the prison. Sandy Hook, to the south, had the Gotham City Stadium and the Admiral Docks.

Gotham was surrounded by rivers and channels, principally, North River, East River, South Channel and the Gotham River, which separated Midtown and Downtown.

* * *

We had both risen early and had left our warehouse, which was located near to Gotham International Airport, to the north of Gotham.

We drove over Adams Bridge, crossing over the North River and making landfall on Uptown beside the docks. The area sucked and Mindy was certain that there was a lot of shit going down at those docks. We intended to visit them one dark night...

Mindy drove south, on Freeman Avenue and then across Webb Bridge which spanned South Channel and we entered Midtown. We drove down Montgomery Avenue, making a right at East 21st Street, after several blocks we pulled up outside GCPD Headquarters. I suddenly noticed something.

"Isn't that..."

"Yes, it is!" Mindy replied.

We watched as a very disgruntled 'Cat' was hauled out of a Police Car and into the Police Headquarters.

* * *

 ** _Later that day_**

 ** _Wayne Manor_**

"She said that this was the man that killed your parents. She said, she saw his face," Detective Gordon asked, showing a sketch to the boy. "Do you recognise him, Bruce?"

Bruce Wayne shook his head, as he replied, "No."

"What's her name?" Bruce asked.

"Selina Kyle."

"Do you believe her?"

"Yes, I do."

"So she saw – everything?"

"And you wants her to live here, with us, do ya," Alfred Pennyworth asked sternly. "A common street criminal."

"She's hardly older than Bruce," Gordon argued. "She's just a kid who's seen too much. This is for her safety. GCPD is full of moles."

"And how long would you have us put her up, then?" Alfred asked.

"I don't know..."

"No, the answer is no!" Alfred decided. "Her being here would put Master Bruce in great danger."

"Alfred!" Bruce piped up staring at his butler.

"She is the witness, to a murder Master Bruce; you do understand that, don't ya?" Alfred persisted.

"She is also the best chance of finding who killed my parents," Bruce said before turning to Gordon. "Isn't she?"

"Yes, she is," Gordon acceded.

"Then she can stay," Bruce, decided. "As long as it takes!"

Bruce stood up, strode over to Alfred, and looked him in the eyes, "I've made my decision!"

Alfred seemed unhappy but acceded to the order, as Bruce left the room," Yes, Master Bruce!"

Detective Gordon stood up.

"Look! I know this is a lot, but I'm doing everything I can. Montoya and Allan and I are meeting with an ADA they trust, this afternoon."

"Oh!" Alfred commented. "A trustworthy lawyer, in Gotham!"

"Look! If we find this guy, we'll need her, she'll have to testify, go before a judge, it won't be easy. Witnesses back out all the time. The one's that stick it out do so because they care about the victims."

"We'll do our best to be nice to her then, won't we?" Alfred replied, dryly.

Gordon nodded in acceptance.

* * *

The girl was examining the rather beautiful white and blue vase.

Bruce approached down the corridor from behind her, the girl was fully aware of his approach.

"It's from the Chinese Ming Dynasty, five…" Bruce tailed off as the girl turned to him.

Their gaze met for an instant, before Bruce looked away and then back again.

"…Five hundred years old," He finished.

"You can get one, just like it, for five bucks in China Town," The girl commented, hefting the vase, before placing it gently back on its stand.

The two kids were of similar height, the girl had short, curly hair.

"I'm Bruce Wayne," Bruce said, holding out his hand to the girl.

The girl sniggered slightly and seemed amused, but shook Bruce's hand.

"Selina Kyle! People call me 'Cat'!"

"Nice to meet you, Cat!" Bruce replied studying Selina, who seemed to be studying Bruce.

"You like vigilantes, Bruce?" Selina asked and she was pleased when Bruce's face lit up.

* * *

 ** _That night_**

 ** _The warehouse_**

We were ready for everybody to arrive.

Just in case, we were fully suited up and ready for action. We were in full communication with the three-vehicle convoy, however, were _not_ taking any risks, not in a City like Gotham! We killed the lights, opened the main doors, and hid in the shadows, with weapons raised.

First through the door was Mia, our Mercedes command van, driven by Marty. Close behind him was the eighteen-wheeler, being driven by Dave, and then came Lucille, driven by Erika. Once they had stopped, the doors were closed and the lights brought up.

We did not lower our guard, until Dave jumped down and gave us the safe signal, followed by the same from Erika and Marty. Mindy and I lowered our weapons, placed them on the floor and ran to our men. I hugged Josh for what felt like hours. Mindy was doing the same with Dave.

"Err, guys – sex can come later!" Erika said loudly.

Mindy and I let go of our respective men and blushed, pulling off our masks. People began to spill from the vehicles. Tommy climbed down from the eighteen-wheeler where he had been riding with Dave. Josh had climbed out of Lucille, and he was followed by Curtis and Erika. Finally, Marty, Abby and Megan climbed out of Mia.

The first task was a briefing to let everybody know the current position and the security arrangements. We also allocated sleeping quarters to everybody, most of whom were very tired after the very long drive, especially those who had been driving.

Operations would start almost immediately.

* * *

 ** _The following morning  
Saturday_**

 ** _Wayne Manor_**

Alfred and Bruce were engaged in what appeared to be a boxing lesson.

Selina Kyle gazed out the door at the pair of them, a little bemused by what she was witnessing. Alfred was distracted by Selina's appearance and Bruce managed to land a punch, which Alfred then returned when Bruce's attention was on Selina.

"That hurt!" Bruce complained, rubbing his shoulder.

"Yeah, it was supposed to, init!" Alfred replied tersely. "Taking a punch is just as important as throwing one, Master Bruce!"

"What you doing?" Selina asked.

"Alfred's teaching me how to fight!" Bruce replied.

"Why?"

"So I'll be prepared if something bad happens."

"Yeah!" Selina said, looking around her. "'Cause you live in a pretty rough neighbourhood!"

"Not here... In Gotham!" Bruce added.

"In Gotham people don't fight with gloves on," Selina said seriously.

There was an uncomfortable silence/

"How was your room?" Bruce asked quickly, changing the subject. "Everything good?"

"It'll do," Selina commented with a shrug. "I'm hungry, though."

Alfred stifled a laugh.

"Right! Well breakfast was served at eight, Miss, which you slept through. Luncheon will be served at twelve..."

"There's plenty to eat in the kitchen and Alfred'll be happy to fix you something..."

"No, he won't be, will he? Because this is not a bloody hotel!" Alfred corrected with a grin, enjoying himself immensely.

Selina smiled and shook her head, before turning and heading toward the house.

"Relax, old man, I'll figure it out!"

"Yeah, and you can mind your manners as well, you cheeky little minx!"

Bruce landed a punch on Alfred.

"Be nicer, Alfred, she's our guest!"

"Well, I'm terribly sorry, Master Bruce... Didn't realise you fancied her!"

"What do you mean?" Bruce asked, taken aback. "No!"

"Well it's nothing to be embarrassed about!" Alfred said. "It's only natural, isn't it?"

* * *

 ** _Gotham City Police Headquarters_**

"It was creepy, you know, like we was being watched!"

"That's Gotham for you!"

"I know, but this just felt different. We were arresting this girl, shoplifting – some nice stuff, too. Well, she was fighting as expected and it took a while to get her into the car. All the time, I felt eyes on my neck, but when I turned to look in that direction, nothing!"

"He's got a point. The past few nights I'm sure something has been watching me, too! Just that feeling, ya know – like a sixth sense. It didn't feel like the normal 'Gotham' type of thing. I tell ya, there's something new in town and I think a storm is brewing!"

* * *

 ** _That night_**

 ** _The Gotham City Opera House_**

"What am I doing here?"

I had asked myself that question several times over the past half hour. I was so far out of my element it was unreal. That morning I had woken up in a very strange place – a giant mansion. That afternoon I was trussed up in a dress and the shoes hurt my feet! Why did I agree to this?

"You are here as my guest," Bruce commented with a smile.

God, he could be so damn charming, it was creepy!

The room was a hive of activity, with Gotham's finest all turned out in their finest for this 'fundraiser' crap. The dress _was_ nice, I had to admit that, but I had not worn a dress in years and definitely not one as expensive as that one! Bruce looked smart in his tuxedo, too, quite cute in fact.

"Why are people looking at us?" I demanded.

"I'm Bruce Wayne!"

I wanted to scream.

..._...

"Oh, wow!"

"What?" Bruce asked, following my gaze. "Wow!"

"Bet that got something moving in your pants!" I quipped and Bruce's eyes almost popped out of his head.

"Selina!"

The most amazing couple had just walked into the room. The man was tall and broad shouldered and dressed in a perfect black tuxedo with white shirt and black bowtie. On his arm was a beautiful young woman, dressed in an ankle length, light purple dress that was strapless. Her blonde hair was tied up and was obviously long when down. On her feet she wore a pair of expensive, low heeled, shoes. The man seemed to tower over the slender-built woman, who was not tall.

The couple seemed to be attracting a lot of attention. Behind them was another couple. The second couple were a lot younger, but older than Bruce and myself. The young man was tall, but thin and dressed in an immaculate tuxedo. His partner wore a knee length dark blue dress, which showed off her long legs.

Bruce seized my arm and we headed for the new arrivals.

* * *

"Good evening, I am your host, Bruce Wayne!"

"Dave Lizewski and this is my partner, Mindy Macready."

I shook hands with the teenaged billionaire who bowed gently to Mindy and shook her hand.

"May I introduce, _my_ partner, Selina Kyle?"

"Hello, Selina," Mindy said, shaking hands. "You seem to get around."

"Excuse me?" Selina bristled.

"I meant nothing by it; just that you seem very at home, be it on a rooftop, or in a place like this!" Mindy explained casually.

Selina seemed to frown and then she gazed directly at Mindy.

"As do you!"

Bruce Wayne looked very confused by the exchange, but I waved it off.

"Women!" I laughed and started introducing Josh and Chloe.

* * *

I noticed that Bruce Wayne was being watched.

The older man was following every move the boy made, without actually appearing to do so. I sized him up as being a fair opponent in a fight, despite his age.

"You aware that you're being watched, Mr Wayne," I asked, indicating the man over by the wall.

"Please, call me Bruce," Bruce said, looking over to where I had indicated. "Oh, that's Alfred, my butler – he looks out for me!"

A good guy, then – probably the _only_ good guy in the room! I felt so creeped out by the people we had been introduced to; they were 'slimy' and ingratiating – it was horrible. I had the distinct impression that the young Bruce Wayne thought the same. I could tell that he was here only because he was expected to be, not because he wanted to be and I did not blame him, not one bit!

"You must come over to the house, I insist," Bruce went on. "How about tomorrow afternoon?"

"Can I bring Dave?" I asked facetiously.

Bruce seemed to blush slightly.

"All four of you!" Bruce confirmed with a smile.

I had to admit the boy was very genuine, not like the other creepy bastards in the room.


	3. Fusion Digging In

**_Saturday night_**

 ** _The warehouse_**

I was very pleased to be able to get out of that damned dress!

"You looked gorgeous tonight!" Dave commented.

"So did you – you should wear a tuxedo more often!"

"Josh seemed to think he was James Bond in his!" Dave laughed. "Chloe looked good, too!"

"Neither of us likes wearing dresses, but we do both enjoy the looks we get and the reactions from you two!" I commented.

"I know. Josh had great difficulty keeping his hands off Chloe!"

I pulled on some shorts and a t-shirt and headed out of the bedroom. There in the main section of the larger RV, where our bedroom was, were Marty and Erika. Everybody else was in bed, having had a long day.

..._...

"The kids enjoyed themselves today," Marty commented. "Nobody gave them a second glance. They were able to take surveillance photos of fourteen key places, which still leaves another thirty-four for next week. They also identified some useful locations for Lucille and Mia to be parked up where they will not attract any undue attention."

"A good day; they are all asleep, knackered after all the walking," Erika said. "Megan had a few choice words to say about the walking, when they returned, but otherwise no problems."

"I can imagine! Well, the four of us have an invitation to Wayne Manor, no less!" Dave commented.

"So all went to plan?" Marty asked.

"Technically, yeah! Gotham sucks, big time and so do the people who live here!" I growled. "I feel sorry for the genuine people, as they are very much in the minority."

I saw things getting harder, rather than easier, the longer we spent in Gotham.

* * *

 ** _Wayne Manor_**

"Thank you, Bruce, I actually enjoyed that!"

"I am very pleased to hear that, Miss Kyle," Alfred commented.

"As am I," Bruce added. "You sound surprised!"

"Not exactly my scene!" I replied before whispering directly to bruce. "Can I, err, talk to you – in private!"

"Alfred we're off to bed, see you in the morning!" Bruce said loudly.

"Right you are, Master Bruce!" Alfred said with a wink. "Good night, the both of you!"

..._...

I dragged Bruce upstairs and into my room.

"Don't get any ideas!" I said first, and saw Bruce blush.

Next, I pulled off the damn shoes and sat on the enormous bed, breathing a large sigh of relief.

"You know I mentioned something about vigilantes, the other day?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I – I, err, I saw one, actually two, on the rooftops on Thursday night. I raced one; she wore a purple, armoured, suit."

"Purple?" Bruce asked, suddenly excited. "You sure?"

"Yes. She also had knives, guns and a sword, probably a Katana!"

Bruce was getting excited.

"You know what this means?"

"Trouble?" I suggested.

"Not for us, but for the criminal element of Gotham!" Bruce exclaimed happily.

"So, you've heard of this purple Vigilante?"

"Oh, yeah. She's from Chicago; her name is Hit Girl and she partners with another Vigilante, called Kick-Ass. They run a team, called Fusion," Bruce explained with barely a pause for breath, before coming up short. "Hang on; you said you saw a second Vigilante?"

"Yeah, a dark coloured one; another girl, I think."

"Shadow!"

"Huh?"

"The other Vigilante could be 'Shadow'; she is a member of Fusion. I've been following their exploits for months!"

"You do get excited, don't you?" I commented dryly.

"I do, I'm sorry."

I laughed at Bruce's discomfort.

* * *

 ** _The following morning  
Sunday_**

 ** _Wayne Manor_**

"So, you made it for breakfast!" Alfred commented.

I smiled sweetly.

Once Alfred had left the room, I lent forwards and whispered to Bruce.

"I have something to tell you about Hit Girl."

"What?"

"I know who she is, her real identity."

"Yeah, right!"

"She's coming here for Tea!" I grinned, throwing a bread roll at a shocked Bruce.

* * *

 ** _That afternoon_**

 ** _Wayne Manor_**

We were prepared for just about anything as we drove up to Wayne Manor.

However, we were not ready for the amazing building that confronted us. The building was enormous and built from stone and seemed to stretch for miles. We parked the SUV and headed for the front door, but before we could knock, it flew open and I immediately recognised the man from the previous night.

"Welcome to Wayne Manor!" Alfred announced waving us in.

We headed into the enormous entrance hall and were lead via an enormous ballroom through to...

"The Drawing Room!"

"Ah, Alfred!"

"Master Bruce, Miss Selina... Your guests!" Alfred said rather formally.

"Welcome, Mindy, Dave, Joshua and Chloe," Bruce said, shaking each hand.

..._...

We chatted for a while, before Selina started to bite her lip and look uncomfortable.

"Well, spit it out, Selina," I said. I had a feeling what she was about to say.

Selina looked towards the door and then to me.

"We know who you are, Mindy and, I think, who each of you are," Selina said nodding her head at each of us."

"I assume that you also know what we do with people who are careless with that information?" I asked sweetly.

Bruce and Selina paled a bit before Bruce replied.

"You kill us, chop us up and eat us for breakfast!"

"Nah, Bruce is a bit skinny; he'd be good for lunch though!" Quipped Josh.

"He _is_ a bit skinny isn't he?" Selena laughed.

"Not funny!" Bruce complained, with a slight colouring to his cheeks.

"He's quite cute when he's embarrassed," Chloe commented.

"Yes, he is," Selina, agreed with a smirk.

"Enough!" Bruce said loudly before turning to Mindy. "Why are you here, in Gotham?"

* * *

Mindy took a deep breath before answering.

"Somebody very, very dear to me was shot, just last week. We tracked the perpetrator to Gotham, and well I am going to make sure that that person's last hours on earth, are absolute hell..."

Mindy had not gone into detail; however, my mind was full of images of a screaming man being tortured to death.

"Thanks for those mental images, Mindy!"

"No problem, Bruce!" Mindy replied cheerfully.

Mindy was actually a little scary.

"When do we get to meet the rest of your team?" Selina asked enthusiastically.

"Give us a few days, Cat," Dave said, before asking his own question. "Who knows, besides you two?"

"Nobody, not even Alfred..."

"Keep it that way!" Mindy growled ominously.

The rest of the afternoon was entertaining and included taking everybody on a tour of the grounds, which even Selina found interesting. To be honest I was a little sad when Mindy, Dave, Josh and Chloe left; I enjoyed having them around and secretly I thought that Selina fancied Josh!

Things were definitely going to be changing in Gotham!

* * *

 ** _That evening_**

 ** _On the streets of Gotham  
North Point, Uptown_**

This was the first full night out for Fusion.

I was out, on my Ducati, with Wildcat behind me. Kick-Ass was a few blocks over, with Trojan behind him. Parked up, near the docks, were Shadow and Jackal, on their motorcycles. Mist, along with Splinter were in reserve at the warehouse. Marty and Abby were running comms in Mia, at the warehouse. The plan was to start shaking some bushes and we could then see what dropped out!

We were all fully armed and carrying automatic weapons. I had drilled into everyone the need to be extra careful. We were not on Chicago, which while rough was a fucking kindergarten compared to the City of Gotham. We were known in Chicago and most criminals gave us a wide berth, when we came down the street. Gotham criminals and Cops for that matter would be more likely to send half a gun shop in our direction, than stop to chat or turn tail and run!

That would change, though.

* * *

I would have been happier on my own motorcycle, but I knew that I was not ready.

Mindy had put a lot of trust in us pre-teens since we had arrived in Gotham, which actually made me be more careful about what I was doing, as I did not want to let Mindy down or be the one that fucked things up!

On our first day, in Gotham, the three of us had been given a map, with innocuous marks on it. Only Fusion members would recognise the markings. We were sent to reconnoitre certain places in Gotham, and three young kids tended to blend in. We were all armed with small knives and a radio; Mindy had forbidden firearms for that first day in case we were caught.

We were intending to go out again on Monday to take more photos. We had put in a lot of legwork and it was very exhausting; I had made my feelings, about all that walking, known when I had returned to the warehouse!

* * *

 ** _Freeman Avenue and North Street_**

"This sucks!"

"Jackal!"

"What?"

"I am sick and tired of your fucking moaning!" Shadow complained.

"I just want some action!"

"Just keep your eyes open, wanker!"

Our bickering was interrupted by Hit Girl.

"Fusion, Hit Girl and Wildcat are engaging, standby!"

* * *

 ** _Hampshire Street and North 11th Street_**

I had to say one thing about Gotham; they were _not_ very subtle!

We had heard gunshots and as we turned onto Hampshire Street, we had seen two white and black, GCPD patrol cars, red lights flashing. The Cops were shooting at a pair of men taking cover behind another vehicle a couple dozen yards away.

Unfortunately, we had come in behind the crooks, rather than the Cops so there was a good chance that we would get shot at!

"Wildcat, hold on!" I called as I twisted the throttle and the Panigale rocketed forwards.

..._...

The roaring of the performance engine was easily heard over the gunfire and when the two crooks turned to see what was happening, they saw the front end of a purple Panigale raised in the air as we hurtled towards them. Even the Cops had stopped shooting in amazement. I slammed on the brakes and skidded to a controlled stop, feet from the crooks. Wildcat dismounted and struck one crook in the face with the centre of her bō-staff, followed up by a kick into the face of the other man.

Once both men were down, Wildcat jumped back onto the motorcycle and I accelerated away with a wave at the bemused Cops.

Quick and clean!

* * *

 ** _Freeman Avenue and North Street_**

"Should we go and help?"

"No, Jackal, stay, there's a good Jackal!"

"Woof!"

"You really are a pain in the..."

Two heavy slugs hit Jackal in the chest and he went down hard. I span around, raising my P90 up and triggering the flashlight mounted to the left of the weapons muzzle. Two men were transfixed in the beam. Both were armed with .40-calibre Smith & Wesson pistols.

"You're going down next, whatever the fuck you are!" The larger of the two men shouted.

"You getting up or what?" I growled loudly.

"Your partner ain't waking up, sugar!"

"Fucking ouch!" Jackal announced as he got back to his feet.

"What the fuck?" Both men exclaimed together and both men started shooting.

Jackal dived in front of me putting his heavier back armour towards the men. Once the pistols had exhausted their magazines, the two men feverishly started swapping out their magazines, but not quickly enough!

Jackal swiftly moved out of the way and I raised up my P90 again.

"Nobody calls me 'sugar'!" I growled and sent a trio of bullets into each man.

We heard scrabbling and saw a third man running down the street. I raised my weapon and sighted on the man, until Jackal pushed down the muzzle of the P90.

"Hey!"

"Let him go; he can spread the word about the new Vigilantes in town!"

* * *

 ** _Detroit Avenue and West Orange Street_**

"This sucks!"

Kick-Ass laughed.

"Not every night is action!"

"I know, but the others are having fun!"

"You'll get your chance..."

"What is it?" I asked, sensing trouble.

"See that man, down the street?" Kick-Ass asked. "He walks funny!"

"Kind of like a… A penguin!" I chuckled. "You think he's important?"

"In this place?"

* * *

 ** _That night_**

 ** _The warehouse_**

"Thank you for protecting me, tonight."

I was gingerly tending to Josh's badly bruised back. I knew that Josh would do anything for me; he had almost died protecting me, just over a year before.

"It's been a whole year!" He mused.

"A year since what?"

"A year since we first touched each other..."

"You have a warped sense of anniversaries, Joshua!"

"You complaining?" Josh asked, pulling me around, into a kiss.

"No!"


	4. Fusion At large

**_Sunday Night_**

 ** _Wayne Manor_**

Yet again, I was dragged into Selina's room!

"You know, people are going to start talking!" I laughed.

The look on Selina's face was not a very nice one.

"Sorry!"

"Spit it out then!" Selina demanded, smiling.

"What?"

"Come on, what did you think about _them_?"

"It felt really strange having them there; I mean, to be accurate, they are killers – all four of them; they have all killed, at some stage or another..."

"Some people deserve to die..."

"I suppose..."

I was not totally convinced about that.

"The man that killed your parents; you'd love to see him die...

"That's different!" I exclaimed.

"Why?" She demanded.

I stayed silent; I had no decent argument.

"Those people dish out justice where it is deserved; they save people! I've heard that many people are alive today, because of them; you said so, yourself."

"I did! It's just going to take some getting used to..."

"You telling me that if Hit Girl walked in here, right now, with the man who killed your parents and handed you a gun, you would not do anything?"

Selina, was right, I _would_ take the gun. Then, I would shoot the man; at least I would want to, however whether I would actually go through with shooting the man...

"What was that card Mindy gave you?" Selina asked.

"It has her contact details, in case we need her help."

"We?"

"Both of us..."

Selina grinned and rolled her eyes.

"There is no 'us', Bruce – now I'm going to bed and you need to go to your own bed!"

* * *

 ** _Northeast corner of Uptown_**

"Now what could that freak of nature be doing all the way out here, at this time of night?"

We watched as the strange man moved in his own rather strange way and time, to a seedy looking nightclub that had a pink fish-thing outside it. We watched as the man pulled open the door and walked straight in.

We waited to see if the man came back out again.

* * *

 ** _Fish Mooney's Nightclub_**

"You sure you want to go through with this?"

"Butch, don't you go getting scared on me, now," Fish Mooney said to her second-in-command.

"Never, Boss!"

Butch looked up as the outside door opened. Fish turned to see who had entered and was mildly surprised by who she saw.

"Oswald, you're back!" She said without preamble.

Oswald Cobblepot chuckled without saying anything.

"I'm starting to think that you enjoy being hurt!" Fish continued.

"I was passing buy and thought I'd say, hello!" Oswald said with another chuckle.

"Well, you've said it!" Fish replied, slightly angry. "Now, why are you here?"

"Honestly, I'm just trying to be friendly."

Oswald took a large over-exaggerated 'sniff' of Fish, before breathing out, "Lilacs!"

Fish did not look amused!

"You smell good!" Oswald grinned.

"You don't!" Fish replied angrily.

Oswald laughed.

"Snappy as ever! Well, goodbye then; sorry you're still grumpy with me! But, you know, reaching out in friendship is never wrong."

Oswald turned and headed for the door.

"Man, that dude's creepy!" Butch commented.

"Forget him!" Fish said. "He's nothing!"

* * *

 ** _Northeast corner of Uptown_**

The strange man reappeared after less than five minutes, grinning as if he was really, happy about something.

Trojan thought that the man was a curiosity; however, I sensed something untrustworthy about the man. I was convinced that the man would be trouble at some stage in our near future.

"Come on, let's get back – it is _way_ past your bedtime!"

"Superheroes don't have ' _bedtimes_ '!"

"They do when they're eleven!"

"That sucks!"

* * *

 ** _The next morning  
Monday_**

 ** _Gotham City Police Headquarters_**

The place was somewhat depressing.

It was an old building, no longer suited for its current role in Gotham. Certainly, those man and woman working in the place were not exactly overflowing with enthusiasm.

Well, except for one man.

..._...

"What in the hell are you looking so goddamned pleased with yourself for?" Harvey Bullock complained. "You smiling usually means trouble for me!"

"I'm at work; do I need an excuse to be happy?"

Bullock glared and then looked around the decidedly depressing Police Headquarters.

"What is so goddamned happy making about this place?"

"You heard about the new guys in town?" James Gordon asked ignoring his partner's morbid mood.

"I might have known!" Bullock moaned. "I knew you'd get your goddamned hopes up!"

"Parsons, Edwards; get up here!" Gordon called out.

Two Police Officers appeared by the desk.

"Tell Detective Bullock what you saw, last night," Gordon suggested.

The two Officers looked at each other before replying.

"We were shooting at those two dumb fucks who turned over that store..." Parsons began.

"... Then from nowhere, a large purple motorcycle appeared flying down the street..." Edwards cut in.

"... It came from behind the dumb fucks. It had two people on it; I'd never seen anything like it – they wore some sort of armour and I err, they looked kinda cool!" Parsons continued.

"It was difficult to see what was happening, but they stopped and the shorter of the two riders jumped off and knocked out both of the dumb fucks!" Edwards said.

"Damndest thing I ever saw; even in Gotham!" Parsons exclaimed.

"They then took off and we went over to the dumb fucks and they was both out cold!" Edwards finished.

"Easiest collar in weeks!"

Gordon smiled at his partner.

"God save me from dumb bastards!" Bullock growled. "You think that they're here, in Gotham, to help us?"

"Why not? They helped these guys, not the crooks!" Gordon pointed out.

"What is it with you, Gordon?" Bullock moaned. "Do you dislike a nice easy, peaceful life?"

"If you put it that way, then yes; difficult is a challenge!"

"I need a new damned partner!"

"There's always Nygma!" Gordon grinned.

"What did I do to deserve you?" Bullock moaned.

* * *

 ** _The warehouse_**

"Listen up; Gotham now knows we are here. They may not know what or who we are, but they do know that we are dangerous."

The team were seated before me in the RV.

"Gotham is a complete unknown to us, the two top gangs just happen to be Italian Mob and there are plenty of lesser gangs. As you know, we are aware of Salvatore Maroni and Carmine Falcone. Now, these two don't get on too well, much like Megan and Chloe the other week!"

Megan and Chloe grinned at each other with Megan mouthing 'bitch' at Chloe.

"Those two are bad news!" I continued.

"Who? Megan and Chloe?" Josh quipped.

"Funny, _Jack_!" Megan growled and Chloe scowled.

"Let's get serious!" I warned. "Those two Mob Bosses have been accused of a lot of nasty shit, I kid you not! Both are very powerful men and ruthless to the core."

"I would hate to say this, but these two are on a par with our good ex-friend, Ralph D'Amico!" Dave added seriously and I nodded in response.

"The GCPD cannot be relied upon to help us, as they are rotten to the core. However, we have information that at least one man in the GCPD may be able to be trusted. Bruce Wayne has identified one man, Detective James Gordon, as being a genuine Cop who wants to do his job to the best of his ability. If we need help then we might need to call on him. However, we will _not_ put his life at risk by getting him linked to us," I continued. "Dave and Curtis have also identified another dangerous player, Fish Mooney. This woman is known to be particularly sadistic and from what Marty has been able to find out, she is dangerous. Where she fits in with Maroni and Falcone, we don't know yet."

"There is another man, who we do not know much about; Curtis calls him 'The Penguin', due to how the guy walks. He was visiting Fish Mooney's dump, last night and well, I don't like the look of the guy and I am convinced that he is trouble, so watch out!" Dave lectured.

We all had our work for the day, so we went about our tasks.

* * *

 ** _Wayne Manor_**

"Good morning, Cat!"

"Oh, morning!"

"How'd you sleep?" Bruce asked Selina.

"Your house makes noise."

"It's old!"

Selina grabbed a croissant and sat down across from Bruce.

"Detective Gordon told me that you live on the streets," Bruce said.

Selina smiled and nodded, "Yeah, so?"

Bruce shrugged, looking very interested in the subject.

"What's it like?"

"Not as nice as here?" Selina replied with a grin.

"So you live alone?"

"You gonna ask me questions all morning?" Selina asked, getting a little annoyed. "Aren't you supposed to be in school or something?"

"I'm developing my own curriculum – it lets me move at my own speed and focus on academic areas that interest me."

"Why?" Selina queried, partially impressed. "You're a billionaire; what's to learn?"

"That's a strange attitude!"

Selina seemed a little confused and picked at her croissant.

"So, err, where are your parents?" Bruce asked carefully.

Selina did not answer.

"They alive?"

"Urm, sure. They're around."

"Where?"

"What's that to you?"

"Nothing, I just thought..."

"Yeah, well, you thought wrong!" Selina interrupted, her voice raised. "I'm not an orphan! I've got family all over."

Selina got up and headed for the door, bumping into Alfred as she passed him.

* * *

 ** _That afternoon_**

 ** _The Docks_**

It was time to look around.

Dave and I used another vehicle that we had acquired; never mind from where! It was a BMW 7-series sedan, fitted with a six-litre, turbo-charged, V-12 engine and equipped with X-Drive. It was black and fitted in with the image the Dave and I had shown, publicly, at the fundraiser.

Our cover was that we were looking to purchase some Dock facilities. I wanted to scope out the Docks in daylight, before we tried to visit the place after dark. We would also be putting some advance pieces, into position.

The Gotham Docks were part of North Point, which itself was a district of Uptown. The place had a reputation and not a good one, either. The majority of the docks were openly run by the competing Mob families and as a rule, the GCPD avoided the place.

..._...

We drove slowly around the perimeter of the Docks, examining the security and the lack of security. The main gates were only loosely guarded and it was easy for us to drive in along with the other traffic, which also included Mia, being driven by Marty.

Dave was driving and I kept my eyes open while Dave ensured that we did not end up in the water. Although, looking at the water, I was not sure if you could not just walk across it; there was so much rubbish visible!

We could see three ships moored alongside the piers and they were unloading containers of unknown origin and manifest. On our second go around, we drove past a dark blue Mercedes van discreetly parked amongst some piles of cargo. There was no sign of anybody behind the wheel, but I knew that Marty, along with Erika and young Tommy, were inside and preparing for the night's activities.

At several locations, we stopped and pretended to take in the scenery, examining buildings and the wharves.

* * *

 ** _Wayne Manor_**

Selina pushed open the doors from the Study to the garden.

"If you want to go somewhere, we can call you a taxi," Bruce said.

Selina turned, surprised by Bruce's arrival.

"You move quiet," She said.

"So do you."

Selina closed the doors gently.

"Are you leaving?" Bruce asked with his voice full of concern.

"Thinking about it."

"I'm sorry if I've upset you."

"I'm not upset."

"You seemed kind of upset."

Selina looked around and then walked over to the desk, picking up a framed photograph.

"That's your Mom, huh?" She asked.

Bruce nodded.

"She looks nice," Selina said with a genuine smile.

"She was. You saw her – the night she was killed."

"Uh, huh."

"And you saw me, what I did? What I didn't do?"

"What are you talking about?" Selina asked. "What could you have done?"

"I don't know; something!"

Selina walked towards Bruce.

"You're dreaming, kid!" Selina commented, showing concern. "A gun's a gun! You're not a Vigilante, not like them..."

"Maybe...," Bruce replied.

She smiled.

"Did you ever kiss a girl?"

"Why'd you ask?"

"Just curious!" Selina replied with a smirk.

At that moment Alfred appeared. Selina smiled innocently and Bruce seemed somewhat relieved.

"Time for your studies, Master Bruce!" Alfred advised.

"Thank you, Alfred."

"You're more than welcome to join us," Alfred said looking at Selina.

"Right! I'll see you later."

* * *

 ** _That night_**

 ** _The Docks_**

It was time to make some noise, down at the Docks.

"This is Battle Guy; we have some activity, Pier G!"

"Copy that!" I replied and nudged Kick-Ass. "Wake up, time to go to work!"

"Just point me at the action, honey bun!" Kick-Ass growled good-naturedly.

We were just around the corner of a warehouse, from Pier G. We had received intelligence that identified Pier G as belonging to one of the Mob families, so had decided to stake that out first. Kick-Ass and I headed towards Pier G and stopped when it was in sight.

..._...

"It's that woman, Fish!" I growled.

Fish Mooney had her minder with her and she seemed to be meeting some men of unknown origin.

"Pushing up the audio!" Battle Guy announced from Mia. Dave had 'dropped' some eavesdropping devices around the docks earlier that day.

We heard footsteps and then a woman's voice.

"You kept me waiting!" Fish commented, waving her finger at the closest man.

"We ran into a little trouble," The man advised in a strong eastern European accent. "Nothing to worry about!"

"Good, I've got a lot riding on this job."

"You said."

"Your Boss, Nicolai, is dead, because of Falcone. You want to get back at him, you hit him where it hurts, his money! Ain't that right, Butch?"

That Fish was a crafty bitch, I thought!

"Yep!" Butch replied. "The root of all evil."

"We'll take his money. No problem, as long as it is there, like you said."

"Oh, it's there. I'm positive. The truck you needed."

Fish handed the man some keys.

"And Gregor," Fish added as the man walked away. "Break a leg!"

"She's a fucking nasty peace of work!" Kick-Ass growled.

"Tell me about it! She's so fucking slimy; just like a damn fish!" I growled back.

..._...

"Time to move!" I called.

Kick-Ass moved forwards, raised his Heckler & Koch G-36K, and sighted on Fish Mooney's Cadillac. He fired a pair of three-round bursts that sent everybody running for cover and then sent a forty-millimetre grenade into the trunk of the Cadillac, which came apart in a violent explosion.

Butch pulled out a large automatic pistol and started shooting in our direction, shoving Fish into one of the foreigner's SUVs and then jumping into the driving seat and roaring off. The eastern Europeans, who were most probably Romanians, produced AK-74U assault rifles and sent dozens of rounds in our direction, peppering the steel-sided warehouse beside us.

There was obviously something important in the truck that Fish Mooney had given them as they guarded it and gave it time to drive off towards the main gate of the Docks. We dropped three of the remaining men before they turned tail and ran. Our task for that night was to lay a trail of fear within the Criminal fraternity of Gotham, not to fight.

Only Salvatore Maroni never got the memo!

* * *

 ** _Outside The Docks_**

"Going somewhere are we?"

Cobblepot's eyes went wide at the sight before him.

"Please, I beg of you..."

"Wimpy little shit, aren't you?" The dark form, with long pointed ears, growled in a voice that was definitely not human.

"Please, just let me live!"

"Why should I let you live?"

"I'll do whatever you say – I'll tell you anything you want!"

"What could you tell me that is of the remotest use – you've a snivelling little whelp!"

"I know about Falcone; I know things – Maroni, too!"

"Shut up!"

"Yes, yes..."

Oswald Cobblepot looked up and saw that he was alone.

* * *

 ** _Pier G_**

"Going somewhere are we?"

I turned to see a large man in a dark coat. I recognised him, even in the dim lights.

"Maroni!" I growled. I had not anticipated meeting him yet.

"These here Docks; they are mine. Nobody starts a fight without me. Now you jumped up circus wannabes are gonna get the hell out of my City!"

We stood our ground.

"Sorry – we just got here; we're paid up the end of the month!" Kick-Ass growled.

Maroni snapped his fingers and over a dozen men appeared from the shadows. They were armed with a decidedly interesting array of violent weapons; I actually approved!

"You staying to fight, m'lady?" Battle Guy queried over the comms.

"Bring it on, Maroni; we eat Mob bastards like you for breakfast!" I growled savagely, drawing both Katana blades from my back. "I think it is time for you to meet my good friends, Frank and Ralph D'Amico!"

I saw Maroni's smirk flicker slightly at the mention of two, very dead, Mob Bosses. Nevertheless, the smirk became a smile.

"Then, I have some avenging to do!" Maroni sneered. "May I know your name…? For the headstone?"

"I am Hit Girl and you are going to leave Gotham or die!"

"Full of yourself, aren't you!" Maroni laughed.

..._...

I heard comms reports as other Fusion members checked in.

"Mist checking in!"

"Jackal arriving!"

"Shadow's here to play!"

"Splinter ready!"

"The gate is closed; Trojan and Wildcat are standing by!"

I heard the squeal of brakes as two motorcycles stopped and we were joined by Shadow and Jackal. Mist and Splinter appeared out of the Shadows. Maroni seemed to take a step back at the sight of six armoured Vigilantes. His men closed ranks on their Boss and he seemed to melt between them.

A gunshot rang out and Kick-Ass glanced down at his chest before looking back up at the men arrayed before him. He casually reached up, drew his Ko-Wakizashi swords and took up a fighting stance. There were a few murmurings and unhappy looks among our enemy.

"Well! Are we going to fight?" Jackal demanded in his intimidating electronic voice.

..._...

The fight kicked off!

Mist got in the first shot, sending the lethal point of her chain whip into the face of one of the men nearby. The man went down screaming, his hands to his face as blood welled through the fingers. The next man fell as he tried to avenge his colleague, with a Sai to the throat; Mist was a crazed bull in a china shop!

I ran forward with Kick-Ass a few paces behind me. Splinter was over to my right while Shadow and Jackal formed their own team over to our left, slicing through the men there. Bullets were flying and some collided with our armoured suits. We lived for fights like the one we were in; a melee fight was so much more enjoyable than a shoot out!

* * *

 ** _Several blocks south_**

"Something's kicked off at the Docks!" Gordon said to his partner.

"And we're going nowhere near it!" Bullock replied quickly.

Gordon just stared at his sardonic partner for a minute before replying, "Oh yes, we are!"

"Like hell we are!"

"Then let's go, Harvey!"

Harvey turned the wheel muttering foul obscenities under his breath and ignoring the broad grin on his partners face.

* * *

 ** _Pier G_**

It seemed that Maroni was a very calculating man and reinforcements seemed to appear from nowhere. He was definitely a shrewd operator and we would have to watch him carefully. He also reminded me of that cunt, Ralph D'Amico, another devious, although challenging opponent.

The fight was going well, though, and I could see several bodies on the ground, none in Fusion combat suits, thankfully. I could hear snippets of the fight over the communications, as Marty helped to guide operators away from danger and to good attacking and defensive positions.

I found myself fighting a very large man that had to be seven-foot tall and about eight wide! He may have been big, but he could move and he had a pair of wicked looking machetes, which seemed very battle-ready and had obviously seen plenty of use. The brute knew how to use them, too!

I weaved in between his thrusts and sweeps, keeping myself on the move and attempting to drive a Katana into the bastard's fat gut. The man was a challenge and he landed a hard thrust onto my right thigh which sting like fuck, but did not penetrate. The pain only made me mad; I was _not_ going to stand for that kind of abuse.

The man insisted on grinning throughout the fight; what kind of person enjoyed killing, as that man obviously did? Then I noticed something that concerned me, the fat bastard was slowly pushing me away from the main fight and away from any assistance. I quickly checked all around me and there, in the shadows I saw what could only be an ambush.

"Fusion, Hit Girl, I need assistance; I'm about to be ambushed..."

* * *

I heard Hit Girl as she was cut off by a burst of gunfire.

The man I was fighting was, just for a brief moment, distracted by the gunfire so I drove a Ko-Wakizashi into his stomach and as I pulled the blade out, I eviscerated him. I left the body oozing blood across the wharf and ran towards the gunfire, I could see Mist and Splinter fighting over to my left; they made a good team those two.

Hit Girl was kneeling on the concrete, her swords beside her and a pistol in each hand, shooting at the ambush. There was a large man who was keeping out of the line of fire, however the big bastard had not seen me and he was trying to get close to Hit Girl.

 _Nobody_ crept up on _my_ girl! I started to run hard, the noise of the gunfire covering my footfalls as I closed on the man, then when only feet away I swung my blade and the enormous man dropped to the concrete, his head following a second later. The gunfire seemed to falter as I stowed my blades and drew both of my Glock 17 pistols. I was full of hatred for these men and they were going to die. I pounded past Hit Girl, triggering off round after round from each pistol, ignoring the bullets that drove into my chest armour.

"Careful there, battle tanks can get holes in them too, you know!" I heard Hit Girl comment.

"Rather in me, than in you!" I replied as the last man fell.

I dumped my empty seventeen-round magazines and inserted another pair. Both pistols were smoking from the rapid shooting, as I replaced them in my holsters.

* * *

 ** _The Docks_**

"What the fuck!"

Bullock exclaimed, as he slammed on the brakes and skidded to a halt, all the while staring at the two objects in his path.

"Identify!" A strange electronic voice growled out from the taller of the two, who had a P90 PDW at his shoulder. Gordon fumbled with his GCPD identification and waved it out of the car window.

"Pass!" The other armoured vigilante growled in a similar, electronically augmented, voice.

"Err, thanks!" Bullock yelled from his open window as he passed through the dock gates.

..._...

"Damn you, Gordon!" Bullock yelled a few minutes later as the bullets flew around him and zinged off the hood of the car.

Gordon and Bullock opened fire on the obvious targets, Maroni's men who had completely ignored Bullock bellow of 'GCPD'!

* * *

 ** _Pier G_**

The man fell just inches from me and I nodded my thanks to the rather handsome Police Officer that I immediately recognised as being Detective James Gordon. The scruffy man beside him had to be his partner, Harvey Bullock. That man was an enigma if there ever was one. It had taken a while but Marty had been able to hack into the GCPD computer systems and obtain records of Criminals and Cops alike.

* * *

Strikingly intimidating!

She had nice curves! I had to admit that the suit showed off the hips and other parts very nicely. Other words came to mind: alarming, formidable, imposing, fearsome, and stunning. They all seemed to describe the Vigilante who was clad in purple body armour and armed with a pair of vicious looking Japanese swords.

* * *

He was checking me out!

I liked it, however that moment was not the moment to enjoy it; I would have to watch out for Detective Gordon! I almost regretted my distraction as a baseball bat entered my peripheral vision and I threw myself sideways into a roll and came back up sweeping my blades horizontally and severing my attacker's legs just above the knees. I followed up with a single blade through his heart, and then I moved on.

* * *

"So we finally meet!"

Detective Gordon and I were crouched behind a steel container and we were both pinned down by two men with sub-machine guns.

"Good evening, Detective Gordon; my name is Hit Girl!"

"Hello to you good lady!" Gordon replied with a smile.

Was he hitting on me?

"You cover me and I'll get those two bastards!" I growled getting back to the task in hand.

"Definitely!" Gordon grinned.


	5. On The Run

**_Monday Night_**

 ** _The warehouse_**

"Everybody checked in?"

"Everybody has checked in," Abby confirmed.

I climbed out of Lucille and headed over to the RV. I had removed my combat suit and hung it up. Like everybody else in the RV, I was just wearing a t-shirt and shorts. Everybody was tired, exhausted and sweaty after the night's work, from the youngest, Megan, to the eldest, Dave.

"Good work, all of you, especially as the unexpected occurred!" I said with a smile. "However, that is what we do, we prepare for the unexpected."

Dave stepped forward.

"First things first, injuries. Make sure Erika knows to come see you, especially you, Mindy dearest!" He said looking at the bruise on my right thigh.

I scowled. Dave knew full well, that I hated declaring my injuries, although the bruise was impossible to miss.

"Let's start with the kitty cat!" Dave quipped, looking at Megan who scowled.

"Cute little kitty!" Josh said, ruffling Megan's hair.

"I would stop that if I were you, unless you want to become a female jackal!" Megan growled.

Josh looked down to see a very sharp blade, just inches from a rather delicate and irreplaceable part of his body. Chloe laughed at Josh's discomfort as he removed his hand from Megan's head.

"I met that clown; the one Curtis called 'Penguin'. He was a bit wimpy, really, but something didn't feel right about him; he gave me the creeps," Megan said before laughing. "I scared the shit outta him, though!"

"Erika; you seemed to enjoy yourself!" Dave prompted.

"It was good exercise and it went like clockwork," Erika said, and then she glanced at Tommy. "We had fun, didn't we?"

"We did that, Mist!" Tommy acknowledged with a cheeky smile.

"You two, obviously, had fun as usual!" I said looking at Chloe and Josh.

"We always do!" Chloe replied. "They were good fighters; Gotham is obviously a tough place to live. Some of the men had decent training. I for one would not like to fight them without combat suits."

"Thank you for your honesty, Chloe; I agree with your diagnosis!" I said approvingly. There were some other nods from around the RV.

"Oh, one more thing," Dave said with a grin. "Mindy seemed to attract a lot of attention from a certain, dashing, young Detective!"

I almost chocked on my coffee and felt my face warming up.

"He was checking me out, I can't help it if I have some nice curves," I muttered to general laughter.

"Okay, team, let's get to bed. To sleep, Joshua and Chloe! There is another long day ahead of us, tomorrow!"

* * *

 ** _The following morning  
Tuesday_**

 ** _Wayne Manor_**

Bruce rose up out of the swimming pool and checked the stopwatch.

"You're the weirdest kid I've ever met!" Cat said as Bruce climbed out of the pool, fully clothed. "Why are you doing that?"

"Training," Bruce said as he walked around the pool.

"Oh, like the boxing!" Cat said. "So if anybody mugs you with a diving board, you'll be ready?"

"Yes!" Bruce replied. "I mean no. I'm developing self-discipline and willpower."

"Why?"

"So I can be strong."

"I get you, but it won't work!" Cat advised. "Not on the streets, not in Gotham."

"Why is that?"

"Out there on the streets, it's not enough to be strong; you've got to be mean, you've got to be ruthless. Do you know what ruthless means?"

"Course I do!"

"Well you ain't; you're a nice kid. Five minutes on the street and you will be mincemeat and holding your breath won't do a damn thing!"

* * *

 ** _Early afternoon_**

Cat gazed at Bruce as he ate his lunch.

She then contemplated a bagel before throwing it at Bruce, hitting him on the forehead. Bruce looked shocked.

"Why'd you do that?"

"Bet you can't hit me?" Cat replied innocently.

"I could, but why would I want to?"

"Try!"

"What for?" Bruce insisted.

"Hit me – and – hmmm, I'll let you kiss me!" Cat challenged and threw a bread roll at Bruce.

Bruce looked very indignant, and grabbed up a roll and threw it at Cat, missing her as she ducked out of the way.

"Ha!" Cat laughed.

Bruce started pelting bread rolls at Cat as she jumped off the couch and used it for shelter. Bruce ran to the other end of the room for cover and the two of them pelted each other with bread rolls and bagels.

Alfred appeared at the door just as something smashed; he considered intervening, however it was the first time that he had seen young Master Bruce do anything even remotely childlike, since the deaths of Bruce's parents. He left the two kids to it as his cell rang.

"Morning, Alfred!"

"Ah, Detective!"

"I've been trying to get out there, sorry; is everything okay? She behaving herself?"

"Well, not really, no," Alfred said. "But it's alright."

"It is?" Gordon asked incredulously.

"Yes, well, she's a breath of fresh air, I might say."

"Glad to hear it!" Gordon replied. "I'll be out there as soon as I can."

"Very good, sir!"

* * *

 ** _Gotham City Police Headquarters_**

"Err, Gordon, you have a visitor."

"Thanks, who?" Gordon asked putting down the phone.

"She's down there..." The uniformed Officer said, pointing.

Gordon looked down, towards the main door. There talking to the Detective Arnold Flass was a stunning young woman dressed in a smart trouser suit. Her long blonde hair was in a single ponytail. Beside her stood a young girl of about eleven or twelve, with shoulder length Auburn hair. Naturally, Flass was attempting to chat up the blonde haired woman. Gordon decided to rescue the woman from Flass.

..._...

"Hi, I'm Detective Jim Gordon; may I rescue you from Detective Flass?"

"Please do!" The woman said with a grimace.

"Creepy, asshole!" The young girl said to Flass as she stalked past him.

Once the three of them reached the far end of the floor, the woman turned to Gordon.

"Sorry, my sister has a big mouth!" The woman announced holding out her hand. "Mindy Macready."

"She seems a very good judge of character!" Gordon chuckled.

* * *

"Now, what can I do for you, Miss Macready?"

"I'm looking to invest in Gotham and I was given your name as somebody reliable," I said.

"Who might that have been?" Gordon asked.

"That would have been Bruce Wayne," I said simply.

"Oh, you know Bruce Wayne, do you?"

"Yes, we are acquainted. Now, I understand that Gotham has, err, some problems."

"One or two, yeah!" Gordon replied with his own grimace.

We talked for a few minutes before we were distracted by something going on, below us.

..._...

There was a commotion, down on the main floor as a man fought with the Officer that had just brought him in and was transferring him to a bench. The Officer had removed one handcuff, when the man had elbowed the Officer in the gut and wrenched his way out of the Officer's grip. The man ran over to another Officer and seized the pistol from his holster before grabbing the unfortunate Officer's collar and placing the pistol to the Officer's right temple.

I jumped up, along with Gordon as other Officer's drew their firearms. I looked down and smirked at Megan, who just rolled her eyes. We moved down to the main floor with Gordon in front.

"Hold your fire!" Gordon yelled. "Hold your fire; I've got this!"

Gordon approached the man.

"Easy, easy, sir, look at me... Not at them, look at me. My name's Jim, Jim Gordon; what's yours?"

"Ned."

"Okay, Ned, let's just take a minute here..."

"Hey, bitch, I want _you_!" The man said looking at Mindy.

Megan looked up at Flass, "I think he means you; he wants you to be his bitch!"

Flass coloured slightly, but otherwise ignored Megan.

"I'll go!" I said, feigning apprehension.

As soon as I was close, the Officer was shoved away and the man grabbed my wrist; but as he moved the gun towards my head, I yanked him towards me.

* * *

Everything was a blur.

One second Miss Macready was being pulled towards the criminal and the next Mindy had hauled him towards her and then rammed her other elbow into his nose, followed by a knee into the man's abdomen. As the man doubled over, he dropped the gun and Mindy flipped him over and onto his back, forcing the air out of the man's lungs as he landed.

There was a moments silence before Bullock yelled out, "Well fucking get him then!"

That bellow seemed to wake people up as several Officers moved forwards, flipped the man over and cuffed him securely.

"Very good, Miss Macready; was that Taekwondo?" Gordon asked.

"Yes, I run a studio, back in Chicago." Miss Macready said, behaving as if nothing had happened and not a hair was out of place on her head.

Now that was one hell of a woman!

* * *

 ** _Wayne Manor_**

Bruce was balancing on the polished wood banister.

Cat was at the other end, demonstrating how to keep balance.

"Keep it tight, here!"

"Better?"

"Yeah!"

Bruce jumped down and proceeded to put his shoes back on.

"If you want to test yourself, you should come with me to the Midtown Bridge."

"You've climbed it?"

"Yeah, to the top," Cat replied. "Kids go up there to make out, all the time. I could take you, if you want?"

"Okay," Bruce replied. "I'd like that."

"Let me ask you a question," Cat began. "What's up with all the weird homework about your Mom and Dad?"

"Trying to understand why it happened."

"There's no 'why'; that stuff happens and you've gotta get over it!"

"Maybe you're right."

"Of course, I'm right!" Cat laughed. "You want to kiss me."

"No thank you."

"No?" Cat smirked.

"I would like to, but I can't help feeling that you have an ulterior motive. I don't imagine you consider me a suitable romantic partner, so, why you'd want to kiss me, I dunno."

"You think too much, kid!" Cat said. "I'm just trying to be nice."

"No offence, you don't strike me as a nice person."

Cat was taken aback.

"What do you mean? I'm nice!"

"I don't mean that you are not a good person, but you're not _nice_. You don't care much for other people."

"Screw you, orphan! Climb the damn bridge on your own!"

The doorbell rang.

..._...

Alfred answered the door.

There was a woman there, with blood on her.

"Alfred, everything alright?" Bruce asked from the stairs.

"No, Master Bruce; this lady's been involved in a car accident."

Cat immediately recognised the woman, her eyes going wide at the sight of her. Alfred noticed the woman's eyes focussing on the kids and his senses fired into overdrive. He sensed imminent danger.

"Run!" Alfred yelled. "Run!"

Alfred punched the woman down to the floor. Cat and Bruce took off up the stairs, leaving Alfred to fight the woman. Two more men burst into the house and started attacking Alfred. Bruce and Cat ran through the house, before Bruce pointed them through a concealed servants' entrance. Alfred was still fighting one of the men, and had disarmed him, while the others ran after Bruce and Cat.

Cat and Bruce reached the outside, jumping down on to the grass.

"Bruce, come on!" Cat called.

"Alfred might be hurt; I can't leave him!"

"He told you to run!" Cat insisted.

Bruce was torn with indecision as a gunshot rang out from the Manor.

"Fine!" Cat said. "Stay, but I'm out!"

Cat started running. Bruce turned towards the Manor and saw the woman, with another man. At the sight of them, he ran after Cat. The man and woman on seeing Bruce then ran after him. Alfred exchanged fire with the men, taking one down, but received a bullet in his left shoulder for his trouble.

"Bruce!" Alfred yelled.

* * *

 ** _An hour later_**

 ** _Wayne Manor_**

"Local PD are searching the woods, but so far, no sign of Bruce or Selina," Gordon said. "What can you tell me about this woman?"

Alfred was having his shoulder patched up by a paramedic.

"Well, she was in her early thirties, pretty tasty fighter, actually!" Alfred said before turning to the paramedic. "Look mate it's just a scratch; shove off will ya. I've got a lot of stuff to do."

"Look, we've got fifty police in the woods, even more on the roads. We need to focus on this woman and her people. What can you tell me about her?" Gordon persisted.

"They were trained killers!" Alfred responded. "And your bloody little girl brought them here!"

"We don't know that yet."

"Jim!" Bullock called as he came in to the Study. "You must be Alfred Pennyworth; nice job out there."

"Yeah, well, not nice enough, eh!"

"This was taken off the dead guy; nothing else, no wallet, no keys, no ID, nadda!" Bullock announced holding up a photo of Selina Kyle. His temper was rising, steadily. "Now I know this girl; she was grabbed by the child snatchers and now she's getting attacked by assassins at Wayne freaking Manor! What the hell is going on, compadre!"

"What you haven't told him?" Alfred asked.

"Told him what?" Bullock demanded.

"Selina Kyle was in the alley the night the Wayne's were murdered," Gordon replied. "She saw the killer's face."

Understanding dawned on Bullock's face.

"For Pete's sake, don't do this to me!"

"Harvey Dent and the DA's Office is investigating Dick Lovecraft. He thinks that Lovecraft is connected to the Wayne killings."

"So?" Bullock pushed.

"We leaked that we had a witness. We thought we could spook Lovecraft, get him to reveal himself."

"Well that's one hell of a plan!" Bullock sneered. "And how did it work out? Bravo!"

"We thought she was safe; we thought that nobody knew she was here."

"Yeah, well, you were wrong, weren't ya, you plank!" Alfred said angrily. "How did they know?"

"Why didn't you tell me about this foolishness?" Bullock demanded.

"Cause you'd have tried to stop me!"

"Of course I would have tried to stop you, you puts!" Bullock replied. "What the hell were you thinking? The Wayne case is closed! It is closed!"

"You know damn well it is not closed!"

"Don't tell me what I know!"

"Will you shut up, the pair of ya!" Alfred yelled. "You can argue later; right now we need to find Master Bruce!"

"Alright, if they don't come back soon, they would have headed to Gotham. Selina feels safe there," Gordon reasoned.

"Good luck trying to find her in the City; a street kid like that!" Bullock challenged.

"But you will help us find her, right?" Gordon asked.

"Yeah, of course I will, because I have to be crazy!"

"Thank you!"

"Alright, I'll focus on Lovecraft; I'll find him and if he is behind this, I'll get him to call off the contract."

"How are you going to do that?" Bullock asked.

"I don't know, I'll think of something."

Alfred looked at Bullock.

"I'm coming with you!" He said.

"You're pretty handy for a valet!" Bullock commented as Alfred checked the Browning Hi-Power pistol that he held in his hand.

"Butler, mate!" Alfred corrected. "I'm a butler!"

As they left the study, something caught Alfred's eye.

"Give me a minute," He said to Bullock who nodded and left the Study.

* * *

 ** _Midtown_**

"Hello?"

"It's Alfred Pennyworth, ma'am; is that Mindy?"

"It is."

"They are missing; the Manor was attacked. They are being hunted; I know what you are and I need your help – please!"

Alfred sounded beside himself, with worry.

"We're rolling," I confirmed. "Everybody will be on this; call me if you have any news."

"Thank you, ma'am."

We were sitting in the BMW, on Gate Boulevard in central Midtown, just below the Wayne Tower. I started the engine and joined the traffic heading east and then turned north up 5th Avenue, increasing speed.

"What is it?" Megan asked.

"Bruce and Selina are missing; the Manor was attacked – call Dave and tell him what's happened!"

* * *

 ** _Uptown_**

"Got it, thanks Megan!"

Erika and I were parked up near to the Graham Bridge on the eastside of Uptown. If Bruce and Selina were heading into Gotham, from Wayne Manor, they would need to use the Queens Bridge, coming into West Village, which was on the other side of Uptown.

I floored the accelerator and the large, four-litre V8, turbo-charged engine of the Audi S8 sedan, sent us along Travis Street at speed. We were much closer to West Village than Mindy, so we kept a good lookout as we went, just in case we saw either one of the two kids.

Erika looked horrified, having heard the call over the speakerphone. Selina was a genuine 'street rat', so she should be able to keep Bruce safe.

At least I hoped so!


	6. Running

**_Tuesday evening_**

 ** _Gotham_**

Bruce and Cat had made good time escaping the capacious grounds of Wayne Manor.

It had been hard going, for Bruce at least; he was not very fit and he was struggling to keep up with Selina who seemed to have longer legs and more stamina. About an hour later, they were approaching Queens Bridge and wandering through the grass and abandoned remains of the Queens Bridge industrial district.

"What about the Metro?" Bruce suggested.

"Not a good idea," Cat replied striding out ahead of Bruce who sped up to keep pace with her.

"Why?"

"Not all that many escape routes; we'd be trapped," Replied Cat, who seemed to be getting agitated by Bruce's constant questions.

"We need to call Alfred."

"You see any phones?"

Bruce scowled.

"Perhaps we should go back to my house; if the Police are there, we'll know it's safe." Bruce suggested reasonably.

"Yeah, right!" Cat replied, still walking, and then added rhetorically, "The Police will make it safe?"

"We'll have to contact the Police at some stage; somebody tried to kill you!"

"Me? Nobody knew I was there," Cat replied. "It was your house therefore somebody wants to kill you, obviously, der!"

"I'm worried about Alfred."

"Look, once I've got you safely hidden in the City, I'll find a phone and you can call Alfred," Cat offered.

"I appreciate your help."

"Hey, just trying to be nice!"

* * *

 ** _West Village_**

I slammed on the Audi's brakes and slithered to a halt near the pedestrian ramp to Queen's Bridge.

Erika jumped out and ran onto the bridge, looking around for Selina and Wayne while I kept an eye on the bridge.

I just hoped that we were not too late.

* * *

 ** _The Office of Harvey Dent_**

"Lovecraft isn't at home!" Gordon said in greeting. "How did the killers know where to find my witness?"

"Let's keep calm here, it's a win, we've made Lovecraft panic; this is a panic move.

"A win!" Gordon exclaimed incredulously. "There's two children out there with professional assassins coming after them. Bruce and Selena could end up dead!"

"We'll get Lovecraft to call them off."

"How did they know? I never told you her name, so you could never have..."

"I never mentioned any names out loud..."

"What? 'Out loud'? What about whispering?"

Dent said nothing.

"Don't hold out on me; I'll know!" Gordon warned the ADA angrily.

"For deep background I leaked your name to a couple of sources; I had to, for credibility!" Dent explained. "You're the Wayne murders Cop!"

"That's how they got to her; this is on you Dent! If anything happens to those kids…"

* * *

 ** _West Fare Street, Uptown_**

"A phone!"

Bruce stabbed at the buttons then turned to Cat, "I don't have any coins. Do you..."

"Nope, not a dime!" Selina said. "Why does Alfred mean so much to you anyways; he's just your butler?"

"He's my family!" Bruce retorted forcefully, slamming down the phone.

Selina dug into her back pocket and produced a coin. Bruce took the coin and started dialling after dropping the coin into the slot.

"Good luck, kid! See you around maybe!" Selina said, backing away from Bruce.

Bruce paused dialling the phone and looked at Selina, "What? Wait!"

"Look. Those bad guys were there for _me_ , not you; you have nothing to worry about!" Selina said. "Go home!"

"But you said..."

"I was trying to freak you out; I was playing with you."

"You were playing with me!" Bruce said in consternation. "That's kinda cruel isn't it?"

"Yeah!" Selina replied. "No, look, you're right about me, I'm not nice; not like you, you got a nice way about you."

"A nice way?"

"Yeah, that's why I said that thing about you being the target so, you know, we could hang out a while longer."

"I see," Bruce replied. "It's a very convoluted reasoning."

"Whatever! Anyhow, it's been cool. I'm gonna disappear."

"You can't do that!"

"I wasn't asking."

"You can't disappear; you have to come home with me. When Detective Gordon finds the man who killed my parents, you have to testify."

"You really think that was ever going to happen?"

..._...

Selina started climbing up a fire escape and Bruce followed. Selina sped up and when she reached the rooftops, she started running. Bruce reached the same rooftop and ran after her. Selina with her cat-like reflexes and movements ran quickly across the roof, avoiding obstacles easily and then she jumped across a twenty-foot gap between two buildings, stopping where she landed. She turned to watch Bruce.

Bruce caught up and stopped a dozen or so feet from the edge of the building, catching his breath and looking towards Selina. Then he broke into a run, towards the gap between the two buildings. His courage must have failed him as he stopped at the edge and looked down eight stories to the alley below. Selina stood proudly on the other side, looking smug.

Bruce grimaced, then turned and ran back down the roof, away from Selina. Selina's eyes widened as she suddenly realised what Bruce was about to do. Bruce paused and turned to face Selina.

"No, don't!" Selina yelled out in concern. "You won't make it!"

Bruce ignored her and sprinted towards the gap. He placed his left foot on the parapet and leapt into space.

* * *

 ** _Fish's Nightclub_**

Butch downed his drink, just as two people walked in the main door.

"Busy day, Harvey!" Butch called out. "Come back next year."

"Thief we're tracking down, look familiar?" Harvey Bullock asked, holding up a photo of Selina Kyle. "Goes by 'Cat'."

"Nope!" Butch replied without even looking at the photo.

"Maybe Fish knows her?"

"Fish knows everyone. Fish is busy."

"She works with one of your fences, a new guy."

"What's a fence?" Butch asked innocently.

"Look Butch, this is important, be nice. Where's fish?"

"She's busy!" Butch persisted.

Alfred stepped forward.

"I once knew a fella called butch, yeah, he was a Whitechapel lad! Now, we called him butch, you see, 'cause he wasn't; it was a wind up, like a joke name. In fact he was a horrible little toe rag!"

"Wait, I can't tell, is he threatening me?" Butch asked with a grin. "Yeah?"

Alfred threw Butch to the floor and placed the point of a Commando knife to Butch's throat.

"Now, where is this, Fish?" Alfred said slowly.

* * *

 ** _High above West Fare Street, Uptown_**

Bruce landed on the remote parapet and then seemed to tip backwards, towards the yawning eight-storey drop.

Selina reached out and grabbed Bruce's' outstretched arm, pulling him to safety.

"You are crazy!" Selina commented as Bruce panted for breath.

"Please don't run off again, I'm out of breath."

"Okay, kiddo!" Selina conceded. "You earned it! You want to hang with me, that's cool. But, my world, my rules. You do what _I_ say."

"Yes, ma'am!" Bruce replied.

..._...

Bruce and Selina proceeded down from the roof. They entered a large room that to Bruce looked like a theatre. The place was filled with kids of all ages, some playing games, others just sleeping.

"What is this place?" He asked curiously.

"The Flea!" Cat explained. "It's like a mall for street kids without the crappy music! We'll be safe here, till dark."

* * *

 ** _Fish's Nightclub_**

"Right here!" Said a voice from the stairs.

Alfred looked up and Butch looked relieved.

"So, what's the fuss?" Fish asked coming down the stairs.

"They're just fooling around," Bullock said calmly with a disarming smile.

Alfred stowed his knife and helped Butch back to his feet.

"We're looking for this girl. A street thief, goes by 'Cat', works with one of your fences," Bullock went on.

"Looks familiar. What's the urgency?"

"Professional killers are looking for her."

"Professionals, hmm? This wouldn't be the Lovecraft witness would it?"

"How'd you know?"

"Streets talk! You're here because you want me to help you, Harvey. Of all people..."

"Yes..."

"She has Bruce Wayne with her, Miss," Alfred said, stepping forward.

"Really?"

"Yes, Miss. I am Alfred Pennyworth; I'm the boy's legal guardian. Very pleased to meet you."

"Likewise. Well you see Alfred, I would like to help you, but it would infringe on my personal interests."

"You have a very eloquent gaze, if I may say so Miss Mooney. I see you as a woman that would not let petty self-interest stand in the way of honour and compassion."

"I'll make some calls," Fish conceded."

* * *

 ** _The Flea_**

"Much, better!"

"Really?" Bruce asked, not convinced, looking down at his appropriated clothing.

"You look bad-ass!" Cat insisted, chucking down his original clothes.

"Hey Cat!" A girl called and Cat turned towards the voice.

"Ivy, what are you doing here?"

Cat ran up and gave the girl a hug.

"Juvvie caught me, sent me upstate; it sucked."

"I know you!" Bruce said. "You're Mario Pepper's daughter!"

"Yes, you?"

"I'm Bruce Wayne!"

"Billionaire Bruce Wayne, yeah!"

"You see Clyde the fence around?" Cat asked.

"Yeah, he's working out of a factory in The Narrows."

* * *

 ** _The Lovecraft apartment_**

Detective Gordon kicked down the door and moved in slowly, his pistol raised in front of him.

Just as he got to the rear of the apartment, a door slid open to his right and he saw a man with a gun. Gordon turned.

"GCPD! Drop it!"

Lovecraft dropped the pistol and kicked it towards Gordon.

"You're under arrest, conspiracy to commit murder!"

"Murder? Me? What are you talking about?"

"You put a hit out on Selina Kyle."

"Me? No; the same people came after me!"

There was a noise from the front door and Gordon raised his pistol, waving Lovecraft to be quiet.

..._...

"I've come for that man; you need not get hurt!"

It was a woman and a man. The man had a pistol raised and pointed at Gordon. Gordon raised his pistol above his head along with his hands. The woman nodded to the man and he moved towards Lovecraft. However, as he passed Gordon, Gordon attacked, bringing his pistol down like a club on the man's head, knocking him out.

The woman jumped at Gordon and they fought over the pistol. The woman was strong and gave back everything that Gordon used on her. Finally, the woman cut off Gordon's circulation at the neck and he passed out.

..._...

Gordon awoke an hour later.

He searched the apartment and found Lovecraft dead in his bathtub; he had been shot in the head.

* * *

 ** _Saint Mary's Park, Midtown_**

Bruce and Cat were very close to The Narrows.

The Narrows was a very depressing part of Gotham and populated by the worst scum imaginable and it looked it.

"Stay close, Bruce!" Cat said seriously. "This place is _not_ nice and I mean that!"

Both kids moved towards Adams Street and a bridge across the water. They had not gone far when a man appeared in front of them.

"Well, well, well! If it isn't my old pal, Cat!"

"Bruce, run!" Cat yelled.

Cat turned to run and her last sight of Bruce was of two men seizing him before everything went black.

* * *

 ** _The following morning  
Wednesday_**

 ** _The warehouse_**

It was a big day.

Our youngest member was now eleven-years-old; although she behaved like a veteran of at least thirteen! I had hoped to give her a fun birthday, but Megan understood. There were much more important things at stake. I allowed her some time to talk with her mother, Paige, while we got ready to hit the streets again.

Kick-Ass and Splinter had been out all night, searching and I was due to relieve them with Shadow and Jackal. We were taking a chance, being out during the day, but we had to find Bruce and Selina. We would take the BMW, with our combat suits on under loose clothing and no masks. The BMW had tinted windows so nobody would see us, and Marty had switched the tags.

...

...


	7. Copperhead

**_The next day  
Thursday, mid-morning_**

 ** _Gotham_**

Bruce and Selina had been missing now for almost twenty-four hours and Alfred was beside himself with worry.

He had been out with Bullock all night and as well as being worried, he was very tired. However, there had been some success, although how much, nobody really knew.

"You there, Gordon?" Bullock said into his phone.

"Yeah!"

"Fish got a lead on the kids, at a place in The Narrows called The Factory," Bullock explained. "Word is Cat used a fence called Clyde and he hangs there. We're on our way!"

Bullock hung up.

"Alfred, let's go!" Bullock said. "Fish, thank you."

"You owe me!" Fish reminded Bullock.

"Who don't I owe?" He yelled as he headed out the door.

* * *

 ** _The Narrows_**

My head hurt as I awoke.

I looked around me and saw Bruce, still unconscious on the floor. I went over to check on him; he was still breathing, which was a relief! I looked around, checking out where we were. We seemed to be locked in a storeroom with a very high ceiling.

I pounded on the locked door.

"Let us out!" I yelled, several times.

Within minutes, I heard voices and then the door opened.

"Cool down, Cat!" Clyde said and then he looked down at Bruce. "Or we'll poke your little friend's eyes out. That's it, relax. I have some friends coming over who would just _love_ to meet you!"

Clyde was creepy and he scared me, as I knew him to be very capable of carrying out his threats. Clyde slammed the door in my face and I turned as I heard Bruce moaning. I dropped to the floor beside him as his eyes opened.

"Selina!"

"You're okay, Bruce. I think we both got hit over the head!"

"Is that all!" Bruce grimaced, rubbing the back of his head. "Where are we?"

"We seem to be a guest of Clyde's. He's holding us, probably me actually, for somebody. He's a slimy treacherous worm!"

"Are _you_ alright?" Bruce asked me.

I felt myself blushing. The kid really was chivalrous.

"I'm fine, Bruce. Anyways, we need to find a way to get out of here... Can you stand?"

"Of course!" Bruce replied, standing up carefully and swaying a bit.

* * *

 ** _Downtown_**

I scanned The Narrows through binoculars, from across the water.

Chicago had some shitty places, but The Narrows were just depressing and as for the Arkham Asylum; that place gave me the fucking creeps!

"Wildcat, Shadow, get ready to move!" I called.

"Wildcat, ready!"

"Shadow, ready!"

We knew roughly, where Cat and Bruce were being held. However, not the exact location; The Factory was huge. Shadow was attempting to use Infrared equipment to look for heat signatures, but the whole place was a mass of random heat signatures that fucked things up.

We three girls had been only a few miles away from The Narrows when I had received the call from Alfred. It could take help almost an hour to arrive and by then it may be too late. Suddenly I froze.

"There!" I called.

I could see a dark coloured Land Rover SUV pull up outside one of the larger buildings and as I watched, a woman stepped out. It looked to be the woman that Alfred had described. To me, she looked like a killer. She was smiling, which for a killer, meant she had her quarry trapped.

"Bruce and Cat are in that building; let's move!"

* * *

 ** _The Factory_**

The goon, hearing a lot of banging, went to investigate the noise.

It was coming from the storeroom where the kids were being held. He carefully opened the door and looked in. He could not see the kids. However, as he turned to look to his left, he missed the movement to his right and the large object that smashed into his face rendering him unconscious.

"Good shot, Cat!"

"Less talking, more moving!" Cat advised.

Both kids ran out of the room and then down the first steel staircase they found. They looked around at the enormous facility; it was a maze.

"This way!" Cat said, pulling Bruce with her.

* * *

Bullock stomped on the brakes and stopped the car outside The Factory.

Alfred immediately jumped out and ran towards the building, pistol in hand. Two men guarding the building saw him and opened fire. Alfred returned the shots with venom.

"Am I the only one in this damn city that waits for backup?" Bullock moaned, drawing his own pistol.

The bullets rained down and Bullock ran for cover behind his car. Alfred, however, pushed into the building, taking cover and returning fire where he could.

Bullock froze as he saw a black BMW hurtling towards him and then skidding to a halt on the muddy road, stopping just inches from his own vehicle. Three people jumped out.

"Holy fuck!" Bullock breathed.

"Take it easy, big guy!" The shortest one said in a decidedly creepy voice. "We're on your side!"

With that, the three female vigilantes vanished into the building, ignoring the bullets that flew towards them. Bullock took that as a good time to run towards the building, using the vigilantes as cover. He also saw bullets failing to damage the BMW's windows.

"I gotta get me one of those!" He commented to himself.

* * *

Bruce and Cat were worried.

They could hear gunfire, which was muted, so must have been from a little way away and a few stories below them. They figured that they were near the top of The Factory, possibly towards the east end.

They crept from cover to cover, looking for a way out. Then Bruce almost called out as he saw that woman again. The woman from the Manor. He felt fear rising up within him. Cat saw the woman too and looked scared.

The woman moved off, away from them and both kids breathed a sigh of relief. Then Bruce heard something and he strained his ears to hear it.

"Bruce!"

It was Alfred's voice and Bruce smiled knowing that rescue was close, at hand. Bruce jumped up and ran towards the voice, Cat reluctantly followed, before ducking into a dark area beneath some machinery. However, Bruce was seen and the woman yelled out a command.

"After him!"

The men chased after Bruce, followed by the woman and they went straight past Cat.

* * *

Bullock was pinned down, just inside the entrance.

"Hey!" It was Gordon, who crashed down beside him. "Where's Alfred?"

"In there!"

"Go!" Gordon yelled, providing covering fire for Bullock who moved forwards to the next point of cover.

* * *

Bruce was cornered by two of the men when one seemed to freeze and then drop to the ground.

In his place was an armour-clad vigilante, a short one to be sure, but still a vigilante. In each hand, she bore a wicked set of three blades, splayed out like a cat's claw. The one in her right hand was dripping blood. The other man turned and the vigilante span, ripping out the man's throat with the same set of claws.

More men appeared and the vigilante turned to Bruce.

"Run!"

Bruce did not have to be told twice, as he bolted off to his left.

* * *

Cat moved out of her dark hiding place and went in the same direction of Bruce.

All around her, she could hear shooting, shouting, glass smashing and screams. Fear was rising within her; she was feeling trapped. For some reason she also feared for Bruce's safety. She shook it off. First rule of being a street kid; look after yourself, first. Selina had always stuck to that rule, but something about Bruce was about to make her ignore the rule and she had no idea why!

She knew that she needed to get to ground level, but she could not find a fire escape or any other way other than the open, steel staircases. She went down one and then another before freezing and she screamed.

* * *

Bruce heard Cat's scream and reacted instantly.

He bolted up a set of stairs and saw Cat fifty feet from that woman. He did not hesitate and pushed Cat into action and away from the evil assassin. Cat ran up some stairs while Bruce threw metal poles and tools at the assassin, anything that he could get his hands on.

The assassin, however, nimbly avoided everything he threw at her as he backed up the stairs towards Cat.

Cat was scared, very scared.

That woman was beyond crazy. Cat fully expected to die; neither of them were a match for the assassin. Just as things started to go from very bad to worse, Cat heard gunfire and then caught sight of something purple on the other side of a window. Seconds later the window disintegrated as the two vigilantes from the other night on the rooftops burst through. It was Hit Girl followed by her Shadow.

Both hit the ground and rolled, coming up and Shadow shoved Selina none too gently out of the way.

* * *

I smashed through the window, followed by Shadow who shoved Selina out of the way where she was pulled to the side by Bruce.

I faced the assassin, circling her.

"And who might you be?" The assassin asked, as she circled with me.

"I am Hit Girl and I am going to put you down!" I growled. "Do you have a name; for the gravestone..."

"They call me Copperhead. You are not my contract; I do not want to kill you."

"I don't want you to kill me either, but one of us has to die..." I responded.

"I am seriously looking forward to seeing you try!" Copperhead snarled.

"Then I will _not_ let you down!" I replied, gauging my opponent.

While I had been talking, Shadow was slowly moving to a position where she could cover Bruce and Selina with her armour.

Copperhead was not stupid and as she circled with me, I could see her eyes moving and registering what Shadow was doing. Then she sprang forward and we started to fight.

I was on the defensive and Copperhead was good, very good. I immediately gauged her as having more strength than I had; she was also older and was not weighed down with an armoured combat suit and weapons.

Nevertheless, I would prevail.

* * *

The fight was fast moving.

I was initially mesmerized as the two women fought. They both seemed to be on very, equal footings with each other. Everything Copperhead threw at Hit Girl was defeated; however, both women landed some good blows on each other.

The other vigilante pushed us both back up the staircase, wielding a vicious looking double-ended sword. Then suddenly our protector jumped upwards onto the railing and flipped off onto the landing above us and I heard a scuffle, followed by a scream. We then saw a man; blood pouring from his chest fell to the level below.

"Move it!" Shadow ordered.

I grabbed Cat and pushed her in the direction of Shadow.

* * *

The bitch had backup and I came under fire from two directions.

As I felt the bullets hit my armour I rolled to one side which allowed Copperhead to roll the opposite way and escape. I was incensed that she had gotten away.

"Shadow, report!" I called angrily.

"I have Bruce and Selina. We are heading for the exit at the west end of the building!"

"I'm right behind you! Wildcat, report!"

There was a short pause, before a reply was heard.

"Bit busy here, Hit Girl!" Wildcat replied. "Please leave a message and I'll call you right back!"

I actually laughed at the response.

* * *

I was facing four men, all armed with knives and bats.

They were also at least a foot taller than I was! I was standing beside their boss, who lay on the ground, his entrails scattered across the concrete. He was still alive.

"You want a piece of me, then you're gonna end up like him!" I warned, brandishing my claws that had blood dripping from the tips.

The four men were wary and stayed out of my reach as they slowly circled me. Then two shots rang out and one man's head exploded. I took the distraction and stabbed first one and then another man in the heart with my claws. The final man ran, but fell to two more shots from a man that I recognised as Alfred, Bruce's butler.

"Thank you, Alfred!"

"And you are?"

"I am Wildcat and I have work to do; see ya!"

* * *

I was running after Shadow and her two charges.

They were only a dozen yards ahead when Copperhead reappeared. She raised a pistol and fired three shots, all of which were intercepted by Shadow's armour as she placed herself in front of Selina Kyle.

Selina screamed and Shadow covered her, while I covered Bruce. I fired off six shots from my Glock, not knowing if any connected, as Copperhead vanished for the second time that day.

"Shadow, take Selina and move!"

Shadow did not hesitate, hauling Selina to her feet and encouraging the frightened girl to run. I turned to Bruce.

"You in one piece, kid?"

"Yes, thanks to you, err, Hit Girl!" Bruce grinned.

Then I turned as I heard movement on some stairs.

"Alfred! Fancy seeing you here," Bruce, said, straightening up.

"You alright?" Alfred asked, the pistol hanging by his side.

"I'm fine," Bruce replied. "How are you?"

Alfred holstered his pistol and strode towards his ward.

"You really scared me, Master Bruce. If you die... Who employs butlers anymore?"

For a moment neither moved and then Bruce hugged Alfred. I felt weird emotions inside me as I witnessed the reunion. Alfred hugged Bruce tightly in return, but took a moment to nod in my direction with a smile.

I nodded back and vanished into the shadows.

* * *

Detectives Bullock and Gordon were cuffing the remaining gunmen.

Uniformed GCPD Officers had arrived and were taking the men into custody. The Factory was being searched for any remaining criminals. Gordon turned to see two people walking towards him.

"Oh, thank God!" He said as he recognised Alfred and Bruce Wayne.

* * *

 ** _Three hours later_**

 ** _Wayne Manor_**

Bruce was examining the papers that lay in the desk in his father's study.

"Your security still sucks!" A voice called from the window.

Bruce turned in surprise, immediately recognising the voice. He saw Cat standing just inside the study.

"No one's hunting for me!" Bruce replied with a smile.

He walked over towards Cat.

"I didn't expect to see you again."

"Never said goodbye."

"No, we didn't!"

"I didn't want to be rude."

"It's good to see you," Bruce said moving closer.

As they came closer Cat reached out, pulled Bruce to her, and kissed him on the lips. The kiss lasted a mere two seconds, but to Bruce it felt like a lifetime. Selina blushed a nice shade of pink, just as there was a knock on the door.

Selina looked over at Alfred and muttering something about her room, vanished towards the stairs.

"Having a little chat, Master Bruce?" Alfred asked with an enormous smirk on his face.


	8. Fusion At Wayne Manor

**_Wednesday evening_**

 ** _Wayne Manor_**

"I insist!"

"Master Bruce usually gets what he wants!" Alfred cautioned.

"A proper bed would be nice...," I mused.

I had come by to drop off Selina and to check on Bruce. Now he wanted us to move into Wayne Manor! The almost begging expression on Bruce's face was killing me.

"If you insist; but you're taking on a hornet's nest," I warned.

* * *

 ** _Three hours later_**

After dark, we moved Mia, the BMW and an Audi to the Manor, with a selection of our equipment.

The warehouse would remain our main storage area until we had prepared something similar at Wayne Manor. The security sucked, but Marty would be able to help with that situation

..._...

"I suppose that you need to meet the team!" I said as Fusion filed into the Manor.

As they entered, I introduced each of them to Bruce, Selina and Alfred.

"You know Dave, of course, and you've met Chloe and Josh, otherwise known as Shadow and Jackal."

"Pleased to properly meet you guys!" Bruce said truthfully.

"Our technical support; Marty and Abby, otherwise known as Battle Guy and Hal."

"Hi, Marty, Abby," Bruce said.

"I'm glad to see that you two are both safe," Marty said to Bruce and Selina.

"Our three youngest members; just don't be out off by their size... Megan, Curtis and Tommy. Also known as Wildcat, Trojan and Splinter."

"Thank you for your help the other day, Megan. You were remarkable in that fight," Alfred commented causing Megan to blush furiously.

"No sweat, old man!" She grinned. "You were pretty good, too… For a butler!"

"Cheeky bugger!" Alfred muttered with a grin.

"Finally, we have Erika, also known as Mist."

I watched as Bruce's eyes almost popped out at the sight of Erika; she definitely had the fullest female figure of us all! Alfred smirked, while Selina scowled.

* * *

 ** _The following morning  
Thursday_**

 ** _Wayne Manor_**

It felt a little strange to be waking up in a strange bed, in a strange room.

Initially it was disorientating, but I was pleased to see Josh staring back at me from the bed beside where I lay. I looked up as I heard a brief knock on the door and it was almost instantly thrown open to reveal a smirking Mindy.

"Hey!" I growled. "We might have been fucking, here!"

"There was no screaming; so we knew it was safe!" Dave quipped as he followed Mindy in the door.

A reasonable assumption, but still.

"Oh, ha fucking ha!" I laughed, ensuring that the sheets were pulled up over my chest.

"My, we are getting modest!" Mindy teased.

"And you're getting funnier by the day!" I grinned and then I braced as I felt Joshua's hands on my body and I started laughing and then giggling as Josh began to tickle me. "That is not fucking fair!"

The only way to escape Josh was to jump out of the bed and Josh knew it. Only, I was naked and for some reason I had a reasonable desire to maintain my dignity! Josh now had me to the point where I was unable to speak and breathing was getting difficult. There was also the issue of bladder control!

Oh, hell! I wrenched myself away from Josh's hands, dived out of the bed and ran past the smirking Mindy and Dave. On the way past, I grabbed some clothes that hung on a chair and dived into the ensuite bathroom, slamming the door behind me.

I looked in the mirror and saw that my face was crimson with embarrassment, and I could hear the three assholes outside the door laughing their fucking heads off!

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Chloe emerged from the bathroom, fully clothed and tying her still damp hair back, into a ponytail.

"You are a fucking asshole, Joshua!" She said, glaring at me.

"Dave and Mindy have seen it all before," I said reasonably.

"Mindy, yes; but Dave only saw the top half, a year ago!" Chloe retorted, blushing slightly.

"I'm sure he's seen a naked girl before," I laughed. "You have everything a well-equipped girl should..."

"That is _not_ the damn point!"

* * *

 ** _The Dining Room_**

"Good morning, Chloe, Josh!"

"Morning, everybody!" Chloe said with a smile. I just waved.

Alfred and his staff had laid out a table in the dining room for all twelve of us and it was quite a spread! Bruce sat at the top of the table, with Selina to his right. On his left sat a smirking Mindy, with Dave beside her. Beside Selina was a grinning Curtis, followed by Megan, Erika and Tommy. Beside Dave was Marty, followed by Abby. There were two empty seats for Chloe and me.

"Morning, flash!" Dave quipped as he sipped his coffee and I froze, just as I was about to sit down.

Megan turned to glare at me.

"We can't take you, anywhere!" She said seriously, as a ripple of laughter went around the table.

"It was _not_ my fault!" I said, scowling at Megan.

..._...

"Welcome, all of you!" Bruce said, standing up. "Please treat Wayne Manor as your own. Alfred, Selina and I owe all of you a great debt."

"We are very pleased to be here," Mindy replied for all of us.

"It is definitely good for the Manor to be full again!" Alfred agreed.

"Mindy?" Selina asked.

"Yeah, Cat?"

"You guys being here... Does that mean you're gonna get to work on Bruce?"

"Hey!" Bruce called out indignantly.

"You do need a bit of work!" Megan laughed.

"You have a big mouth," I commented.

"Yeah, not as big as yours, _Jack_!"

"You were right, Mindy, Megan is a handful!" Cat laughed.

"Hey, I am sweet, cute and sometimes innocent!" Megan said to general derisive laughter.

* * *

 ** _That afternoon_**

 ** _Wayne Manor_**

"It seems that an important event was missed, the other day!" Alfred said with a smirk.

"It was?" Curtis asked.

"Megan!" Bruce ordered.

"It was not me and I was nowhere near the place..." Megan began.

"I think it is important that youngsters are able to celebrate their birthdays, especially at the tender age of eleven..." Alfred said causing Megan to go pink.

"Happy Birthday, Megan!" I said, as Alfred unveiled a large chocolate cake with eleven candles.

"Oh, wow!" Megan exclaimed, even forgetting to swear.

Alfred lit the eleven candles, one by one. Megan's excitement was growing as each candle was lit. Paige had told me that Megan loved cakes and candles and she always had apparently. It was rare to see the more normal side of Megan. The girl had not had all, that many opportunities to be a normal girl, however I was pleased that we could have celebrated Megan's birthday, even if it was a day late!

We all cheered as she blew out all the candles, in two goes. Megan was enjoying all the attention and the fun, which was good for her.

* * *

 ** _That evening_**

The party went on for a couple of hours and included a fantastic dinner.

After the meal, I noticed that Megan was not with everybody else. I wanted to give her my birthday present.

"Curtis? Where's the little lady?"

"Megan? She went down the garden, I think."

Wayne Manor had extensive gardens, most of which was to the rear of the property. I headed outside towards the garden. I headed to the left and walked along the bricked pathway. At the far end of the terrace, which was a good hundred-yard walk, I found Megan. She was alone and sitting on the bottom step of a flight of stone steps that led up to the upper terrace and orchard.

"Hey, kid, how're ya doin'?" I asked, but then stopped as I saw the tears running down Megan's cheeks.

Megan cried about as often as I did, so I was worried. I sat down beside the girl and turned to her.

"What is it, Megan?"

The girl turned to me and I was a little shocked.

"I miss Mom..."

She could kill a dozen men in as many minutes, but right now... I gave the girl a hug and surprisingly she actually let me, without attacking me! I decided that a distraction was needed.

"Got a present for you, well two, actually."

Megan perked up a bit and wiped away her tears. She looked a little ashamed.

"Megan, if I have to tell you about being ashamed for crying, so help me God!"

The girl smiled and then looked keenly at the two packages beside me. I passed them over to her and she started ripping the paper off the first one, eagerly.

Inside the package was a black plastic box. Megan obviously recognised it for what it was as I saw her hands trembling with anticipation as she opened the box.

"A grown up gun, for a grown up girl!" I said and Megan grinned.

In the box was a custom SIG Sauer P250 Compact with Threaded Barrel. The pistol was coloured in the same browns as Wildcat's combat suit and was chambered in nine-millimetre. The kit came equipped with a five-inch suppressor and a combined laser/flash-light that fitted beneath the barrel.

Megan took her time, racking back the slide and examining the breech the action, everything. I had a distinct feeling that Megan liked the pistol!

"Marty has the holster to go with that pistol for your combat suit. Now, when you've finished having your first orgasm, there's another box down there..."

Megan carefully placed the weapon back in the box and closed it up, placing it off to one side. The second present was large and over a metre long. Megan was trembling at the thought of what weapon might fit into a present like that. All thoughts of missing her Mom were long gone.

The wrapping paper lasted less than a second, revealing a long dark wood case with brass hinges and brass clips. Megan laid the case onto a step and gently released the clips. She opened the lid very slowly.

"Fucking wow! I... Wow… Oh, fuck, Mindy!"

I laughed at Megan's excitement.

"Now, the big one..."

"…The Katana," Megan interrupted.

"Yes, the Katana, will probably be too big for you to wield, nevertheless, you can train with it. Just do not take it out on ops. However, the Wakizashi should be perfect for you."

The swords were a matching set and all but the blades were black. The Katana was a little over forty inches in length, of which almost twenty-nine inches was the blade. The Wakizashi had an overall length of thirty inches, with a twenty-inch blade.

Megan lifted out each sword in turn, careful not to touch the viciously sharp blades. She gazed in awe as the light shimmered on the highly polished blades.

"Mindy, they're wonderful," Megan said and I could see more tears in her eyes.

"You're growing up kid and you've more than proved that you can take care of yourself. Alfred and Bruce both told me how well you fought at The Factory. Bruce says you've scared him for life, but he thinks he'll get over it!"

"I enjoyed myself; it was fun. Thank you for looking after me; I'm really looking forward to having you as my big sister."

"And I'm looking forward to you being my kid sister, Megan. You come to me, or Dave, or Chloe or even Joshua, if you need somebody to talk to about shit. We've all missed people; we've all been through a ton of shit and we all know what it feels like. Don't suffer alone, it's not worth it."

Megan grinned her thanks.

* * *

 ** _That night_**

 ** _Magnus Street, Downtown_**

Detective Flass was alone.

He was heading east, away from the Major Crimes Unit. It had been a long shift and he just wanted to head home. Suddenly there was a pair of loud bangs as both one and then the other front tyre on his car blew out.

"Fucking, Christ!" Flass yelled to nobody in particular.

As soon as the car was stopped, he climbed out and examined his tyres.

"Oh, fuck!"

Embedded in each tyre was a blue-feathered arrow. Flass looked around him, sensing danger. He was looking down the street, with one hand on his pistol, when there was a thud, as something landed on the roof of his car. He span around to see a dark shape, holding a large compound bow with a notched arrow, aimed at his chest. Then out of the darkness, an enormous object, encased in green and yellow armour, strode forth and shoved Flass onto the hood of his car. Fear gripped Flass as he tried to register what was happening.

A voice sounded close to his ear, he turned his head and instinctively took a sharp intake of breath. There, just inches away from him was a purple object, which then began to speak to him.

"I hate criminals. Even worse, I hate murderers. Next down the rankings are those who hurt women and children; they have special, long, drawn out deaths awaiting them. Now, if those who hurt women and children were in the penthouse; then you, Flass and every other crooked Cop, would be in the fucking basement.

"So, why should I let you live; you are the very definition of what is wrong with this fucking city. Gotham can only heal itself once scum like you are removed from the chain of law and order. Believe it, or not, I am fair, so I give you and all the fucking slim like you, a chance. Get out of Gotham or change your ways. There are no other options. Do you understand, cunt?"

"You can't threaten _me_ you vigilante scum!" Flass blustered. "You're more of a criminal than most of Gotham, you..."

Flass never got the opportunity to finish as the enormous vigilante flipped Flass over and his face met the hood of his car, hard.

"Fucking..."

Again, he was interrupted as his head struck the windshield, cracking the glass.

"Mark my words, Flass; you have your choices – choose _very_ carefully!" Hit Girl hissed into his ear.

Flass forced himself to stand up, ignoring the blood that ran down his face.

"Look, I..."

He stopped as he saw that he was alone.

* * *

 ** _The following morning  
Friday_**

 ** _Gotham City Police Department Headquarters_**

Bullock laughed, he could not stop himself.

"What you laughing at?" Gordon demanded, annoyed at the interruption.

"Hey, Flass, walk into a door?" Bullock called, grinning from ear to ear.

Gordon looked up and laughed, too.

"That's the eighth damn cop who apparently 'walked into a door', this morning!"


	9. A Different Side To Chloe

**Author's Note:** _Please be warned that this chapter includes smut and behaviour that could be seen as indecent and salacious, including words or insinuations of a dubious, unseemly or suggestive nature!_

 _One a more serious note; there are also scenes that some readers may find somewhat disturbing. Due to this and the fact that there is some femslash and ménage à trois behaviour, this story has moved to an 'M' rating._

* * *

 ** _The next day  
Saturday_**

 ** _Wayne Manor_**

We had all settled into Wayne Manor and everybody had agreed that it was _much_ more comfortable than the RVs!

Chloe and Josh had made a start with Bruce on some exercises as Selina had commented that Bruce had struggled when running earlier in the week. The exercises would be harsh and Chloe could be sadistic, but I knew that the young man had some issues to be resolved concerning the deaths of his parents. I saw something in him, in his emotions, in his eyes. It was something that I recognised; even Dave had commented on it, seeing as he was very familiar with the exact same signs, from the younger me. Initially, I was not too happy about Dave comparing the younger me to a thirteen-year-old boy, but I understood what he was getting at.

Bruce Wayne was out for revenge; he was going to make sure that somebody paid for the deaths of his parents. Now that sounded just a little but familiar. Maybe too familiar for my liking.

As for Selina, or 'Cat', as she insisted on being called. She had some great reflexes and some down and dirty, street fighting skills. I had talked with Cat and she had told me that she would like to learn some new skills, too. There was something to that girl's eyes, too, however she was not willing to tell me about what was driving her; but something definitely was. The girl was, for now, a mystery.

I had supplied Bruce, Cat and Alfred with secure cell phones so that we could all keep in contact and Alfred and I had impressed on Bruce and Cat to keep the phones on them at _all_ times.

It was fairly obvious that Cat did not like taking orders, but she seemed okay with suggestions.

* * *

I was down at the East Fountain, near to where I had found Megan the other evening.

Only Dave knew about Megan missing her mother and what had occurred that night. The girl was enthralled with her new equipment and I could see her, down by the Main Fountain, practicing with her Wakizashi, under the instruction of Dave. In front of me, I had a profusely sweating Bruce Wayne and a laughing Selina Kyle. Chloe was putting them through their paces and while Cat was able to keep up, Bruce was struggling.

The weather was perfect and the grounds of Wayne Manor were very private, the staff keeping themselves all, but invisible. Apart from Alfred of course. Alfred was always around, to keep an eye on his young ward.

"Miss Mindy, you have a visitor," Alfred informed me, as he walked up.

"A visitor?"

"Detective Gordon is looking for a Miss Hit Girl!" Alfred explained.

"The guy ain't stupid, is he? You said he could be trusted?"

"He has a different way of doing things to most of those in Gotham and his plans have been known to _fuck up_!" Alfred replied. "However, I believe him to be honest and trustworthy."

"What does he want?"

"He says he needs your help with a delicate matter, which he says may be beneficial to you," Alfred explained cryptically.

I shrugged and left Chloe torturing Bruce while I followed Alfred back to the Manor.

..._...

I noticed that everybody had made themselves scarce when Detective Gordon had arrived; we did not want him seeing too many faces.

"Miss Macready!" Gordon said, jumping up as I entered the room.

"Good morning, Detective Gordon," I replied with a smile.

"I would like to propose a trade. My knowledge, for your skills."

"My skills?" I replied innocently.

"Look, I'm a Cop, I figure things out. I know that you and your team are here in Gotham and I think I know why."

"I'm listening."

"I understand that you are from Chicago. I made some calls and I understand that somebody very close to you was shot, a couple of weeks ago. A source informed me that the shooter came from Gotham. I suppose you are here for revenge?"

"Go on."

"I owe you for rescuing Bruce and Selina. That they ended up in danger was my fault. I made a mistake and trusted the wrong people. I think, I can point you in the direction of somebody who just might be able to help you. Now, taking down this person will help me and it will give you information that will, I hope, lead to the shooter."

"Alfred tells me that you can be trusted," I growled. "I hate bent Cops!"

Gordon laughed.

"I noticed; I saw Flass the other morning, not to mention a few others."

I felt myself blushing.

"I was bored."

"Please, keep doing what you are doing; I'm all for it!" Gordon insisted.

..._...

I called in Dave, Chloe, Josh, Erika and Marty. After I introduced them to Detective Gordon, we got down to business. He explained that there was a bar, in Downtown, which the GCPD had been trying to take down for months. The owners of the bar had Cops on the payroll and whenever the place was raided, it came up clean as the proverbial whistle.

"We need intel, proper intel, to close the place down. I'm hoping you can get it, while you are speaking with a certain person. That person is heavily protected, except when she is engaging in her pastime at that bar."

"Sounds relatively easy," Marty, commented.

"This is a somewhat delicate matter," Detective Gordon added quietly, looking a little uncomfortable.

"How so?" I asked. "A bar is a bar!"

"It, well, err, only caters for a certain clientele," Gordon tried, looking more uncomfortable. "No men are allowed, if you get my drift."

"Oh, you mean it's a lesbian bar!" Erika exclaimed in an 'is that all' kind of tone.

"Err, yeah," Gordon finished, colouring slightly.

I considered this unique fact and then turned to Erika.

"You up for it, Erika?" I asked, knowing that Erika went both ways and did not care who knew it.

"I don't see why not; I am uniquely qualified, after all," Erika said, grinning. "I'll need a willing partner..."

"Don't look at me; no fucking chance," I responded as Erika immediately looked at me. "You are _not_ getting in _my_ knickers!"

"I'll do it."

Everybody turned to stare at Chloe.

"Do what? Get into Mindy's knickers?" Josh asked and I smacked him around the back of the head. "Fucking ow!"

"I'll do it," Chloe repeated quietly. "It's not like it'll be the first time that I've kissed a girl."

There was complete silence around the room. Josh was aghast at the revelation and the boy seemed a little horrified.

"Oh get a fucking grip, Joshua!" Chloe growled. "I still like boys – even you!"

Josh breathed out a very audible sigh of relief that had everybody laughing and thus breaking the otherwise awkward silence.

"Okay, the plan..." Detective Gordon said, laying out his proposed idea.

* * *

 ** _That afternoon_**

After Detective Gordon had left, I brought the team together and briefed them with what they needed to know, keeping certain facts out.

"Ewww!" Megan exclaimed when she heard about the bar.

"Cool!" Was Curtis' response.

"Just the thought of one girl touching another girl's... Ewww!" Megan went on, crossing her legs.

"So sweet and kind of innocent," Erika laughed.

"Innocent, my fucking ass!" Marty said, receiving a scowl from Megan.

The rest of the day was spent preparing for the operation which was aimed at the following evening.

Marty and Josh had vanished into Gotham for some reconnaissance, while Erika and Chloe went shopping for suitable outfits.

* * *

 ** _The following day  
Sunday_**

By early evening, all was almost ready.

Both girls wore loose fitting, very expensive, dresses. Their underway was also expensive and of a very suggestive design.

"This feels good," Chloe commented.

"You look good," Erika said with a wink and Chloe blushed a little.

"Let's save it for the targets, eh, girls!" I directed, feeling a little creeped out.

"What the fuck!" Chloe moaned as she felt a sharp pain in her neck and she turned to see Marty standing with a used syringe in his hand.

"Just an experimental chemical compound that should reduce the effects of alcohol on you, should you drink anything," Marty explained.

"Okay!" Chloe growled. "Although I am a little concerned about the 'experimental' part. What about Erika?"

"Erika is twenty-two and a well accomplished drinker; you, young lady have never _properly_ experienced alcohol!" I said and saw Chloe blush slightly.

I was well aware that Chloe had been caught drinking, along with her friends, by her mother, when she was only twelve. The results, as I understood them, had been epic!

"My mother has a big mouth!" Chloe growled. "How much did she tell you?"

"Everything!" I grinned and saw Chloe look decidedly uncomfortable.

"Does Dave know?"

"Actually, no he doesn't..."

"Tell him and I slit your throat, one dark and stormy night!" Chloe threatened and I laughed.

* * *

 ** _That evening_**

 ** _The Velvet Beaver_**

Marty acted as the chauffer, taking the two girls to the door in an Audi S8.

We needed to portray the two girls as being rich and well connected. Once Marty had dropped them off, he made his way to Mia, where we watched and waited for the evening's events to unfold.

"You know, we're gonna have to make this look authentic?" Erika said as they both walked towards the bar.

"Bring it on, you won't upset me!" Chloe said with a broad grin.

I had to admit, as I watched from Mia, that Chloe appeared much older than the fifteen-years-old she really was and a lot closer to Erika, who was seven years her senior. Both were equipped with concealed communications devices as well as concealed weapons. We would be able to hear everything that went on between the two girls, the thought of which I both dreaded and to some extent, looked forward to!

..._...

As they got closer to the main door, Erika started to get properly into character and drew Chloe into a long kiss, during which nobody in the command van said a word! Marty eventually broke the silence.

"Any chance I can post this on YouTube?" He asked.

"Damn, I have a raging hard-on!" Josh muttered to nobody in particular.

I felt myself blushing a little. Erika and that brazen hussy were putting on one hell of a show and Chloe looked a natural, not to mention that she seemed to be enjoying it. Talk about a live porn film!

I suddenly realised that it was not sweat, which was making my underwear damp...

* * *

Chloe and Erika were not alone. Several other, similar, couples were making out close to the bar, prior to going in.

"You two be safe – in every sense of the word!" I cautioned.

"Yes, Mom!" Chloe muttered. "Damn, my knickers are fucking soaked already!"

"Join the club!" Erika added.

This had to be the strangest operation we had run to date!

Both girls entered the bar without any problems.

..._...

"I have them!" Marty said, breaking the tension.

Marty had managed to hack into the bar's security system and we could now view the inside of the building via the bar's own cameras. We watched as Chloe and Erika sat down at a booth that was conveniently located for us as it was covered by several cameras. We would be able to watch their backs' and cue them in to any problems without them raising suspicions by constantly looking around them.

That also meant that they could concentrate on their outward appearance, as two girls out for a night of fun, together...

* * *

 ** _The Velvet Beaver_**

I was nervous as hell.

This was a first on _so_ many levels!

Erika was doing her utmost to put me at ease, but I was nervous and doing my best not to show it. Okay, I kissed a girl when I was thirteen, but that was it, we had done nothing much else. At that time, I had had even less tits than I had at that moment.

Now, though, I had had sex with Josh, so I was familiar with how my body worked. I fancied girls, but had not paid it very much attention until that evening in New York, when I had shared the tub with a naked Mindy. I had found myself in a quandary as I had forced myself to keep my hands away from Mindy's body. I loved Josh and would never give that up, however Erika knew exactly where to use her hands and she could kiss. Better than Josh? Not really.

It felt strange having somebody else running their hands up my legs and continuing up my thighs to my fucking snatch. I tentatively reciprocated and found my nervousness leaving me as my hand ran over Erika's damp crotch. I was damp, too, and it was _not_ sweat! Erika ordered the first round of drinks.

"It's okay; they're very low on the alcohol. Just keep an eye open for anybody slipping something into your glass!" Erika warned.

"I am watching every drink from bottle to table," Battle Guy confirmed.

Playing at being a lesbian in public was one thing, but in front of my friends, now that was difficult. I felt myself blushing slightly.

"First time?" A voice asked.

I looked up to see a stunning blonde woman and did my best to keep my expression neutral. It was our target, Tiffany Strang!

"She's new to the game, but her tongue is a fucking dream!" Erika chimed in with a disarming smile.

"I'm Tiffany. Maybe you could show me what you can do?"

"I try to please," I said, finding my voice and licking my lips provocatively.

"I'll come by later on and we can retire to my private rooms," Tiffany said, moving on to the bar.

"Did she just hit on me?" I asked.

"Jackpot, girl – hope your tongue is ready!" Erika said as she leant in for a kiss and her hand ran gently over my left nipple.

I shuddered.

* * *

 ** _'Mia'_**

We all heard Chloe's intake of breath and her moaning.

"Damn, this is unbearable!" Josh growled, trying to adjust the area of his combat suit around his groin.

Dave just looked at me and shrugged. It was a first for all of us, listening to two girls making out. I grimaced a little in response.

"Hey, Marty, you got the AC on in here?" I demanded, fanning my face with my mask and pulling at the neck of my combat suit.

"At least we have made contact with the target," Marty replied, moving the AC to 'High'.

"I just hope they stay safe, there is no way to get in fast," I cautioned.

* * *

 ** _The Velvet Beaver_**

Erika was one hell of a tease.

Her hands were touching the soft skin at the top of the inside of my thighs. So close, but I was desperate for her to go further, however my knickers were in the way. Admittedly, I had Erika moaning, which must have been one hell of a show for those in Mia! I sincerely hoped that they were not recording the audio or the video, but knew they would be. If Mom ever saw that video...

I was also getting a little light headed. I was onto my third drink, taking it as slowly as I dared. It had been a little over an hour since Tiffany had said hello. She was back and I had a feeling she had timed it for when I had consumed some more alcohol.

"Come!" Tiffany said with a smile.

"I think I already have!" I whispered to Erika with a giggle as we stood up and followed Tiffany towards the back of the bar.

* * *

 ** _'Mia'_**

"I don't think she's the only one!" Josh moaned.

Dave laughed and so did Marty. I just hid my steadily warming face in my hands.

"Okay," Marty said, getting back to business. "I have them moving out of the bar and into a corridor."

Marty was flicking through CCTV images.

"They're entering the fourth door on the right. No visible security on the door. Oh..."

I could see immediately what the 'oh' was about! Chloe and Erika, along with Tiffany, were in a large open area that was sectioned off with thin, white, cotton-like material. In each sub-area was a large bed with white sheets. Some of the beds were already occupied with pairs of women. Some were already stark naked and…

"Never thought that was possible!" Marty commented as he examined the screen closely.

"Damn, this is killing me!" Josh complained as he leant closer to the screen.

We watched as Tiffany showed Chloe and Erika to a bed that was located near the top of the large open area.

"I'll let you two settle in..."

Tiffany walked away and started to chat with some of the other couples. Chloe seemed a little nervous, but Erika led her over to the bed and...

"Err, I hope you guys ain't peeking!" Josh warned. "That's _my_ girl!"

* * *

 ** _The Velvet Beaver_**

"Just follow my lead, Chloe; we need to sell this and sell it well," Erika said as she gently kissed my cheek.

I allowed Erika to guide me onto the bed, where she began kissing me on the lips. I moaned! I forced myself to just lay back on the bed and relax, allowing Erika to lead. I kicked off my shoes and Erika did the same. I felt her hands run up my legs and then my thighs. She then carefully slide my knickers down and off. Now I felt very exposed and very nervous.

"You're doing very well," Erika whispered encouragingly as she pushed my dress up to my waist, exposing me to all. However, nobody was looking; they were all very busy with their own activities. I had to admit that the alcohol was making me less nervous by the minute and I happily spread my legs.


	10. Another Day Another Dollar

**Author's Note:** _Please be warned that this chapter includes smut and behaviour that could be seen as indecent and salacious, including words or insinuations of a dubious, unseemly or suggestive nature!_

 _One a more serious note; there are also scenes that some readers may find somewhat disturbing._

* * *

 ** _Sunday night_**

 ** _The Velvet Beaver_**

Within minutes, I was naked, the dress was on the floor at the head of the bed, along with Erika's dress and underwear. I was feeling very self-conscious and exposed as Erika caressed my erect nipples with her mouth and her hand ran down my stomach and gently released some of the tension that had been building up between my legs. I actually screamed, as Erika touched some _very_ sensitive and very stimulated parts of me. I reciprocated, running my hand between Erika's thighs and causing Erika to inhale deeply as I penetrated her.

My ministrations must have been good as Erika soon arched her back, panting readily, before she screamed and collapsed beside me. I felt like I could go on forever. I rolled onto Erika and kissed her deeply, enjoying the pressure of her breasts on my own.

"You seem to be enjoying yourselves!" Tiffany said, running her eyes over our naked bodies as I rolled off Erika.

I found myself gazing at the stunning read-head who was now completely naked. She had very nice curved breasts and discreet curves that led down to a neatly trimmed pelvic area. I felt my nipples hardening and growing sensations within my groin.

To me, it all felt well beyond erotic.

* * *

 ** _'Mia'_**

"Damn that woman's hot!" Marty commented, flicking the AC up another notch.

"Shame she has to die!" Mindy growled.

"Please tell me that you are enjoying this," I said. "People would pay thousands to watch shit like this!"

"I would be lying if I said I wasn't turned on by it all," Mindy replied, blushing. "I'm very sure that you three are stiff as a fucking board!"

"Oh, yeah!" Josh replied.

* * *

 ** _The Velvet Beaver_**

I sensed that we were close to the endgame.

I knew that the woman I was currently 'fucking' was going to die in the not too distant future which just added to the stimulation of the moment. I was engaged in my first ever, lesbian threesome, only an hour after my first ever, lesbian twosome! I was on what must have been my third or fourth orgasm of the evening and I was struggling. Erika was in her element and covering for any mistakes, I made.

Tiffany was a screamer, which made two of us! She must have already been aroused before she came over to us as she kicked into an orgasm after a very short time, which seemed to surprise Erika.

* * *

 ** _'Mia'_**

Earlier on we had identified a problem.

We could not abduct Tiffany Strang with all those other witnesses, which we had expected, so we had arranged for the place to be raided by the GCPD at a certain hour. Only this time Detective Gordon had selected the Cops, so I hoped it would go smoothly. During the raid, we would snatch Tiffany, Erika and Chloe.

"Let's move into position!" I ordered and Josh reluctantly dragged himself away from the screens.

..._...

Ten minutes, and a _lot_ of screaming later, we were positioned outside the rear of the bar. We should have been only yards from where Chloe and Erika were engaged with Tiffany. I received the agreed signal from Detective Gordon and prepared to breech with Kick-Ass. Jackal was waiting in Iron Hide, just around the corner, ready to pick some of us up.

* * *

 ** _The Velvet Beaver_**

"We go in one minute!"

I heard Hit Girl over the comms and gently eased myself over to the head of the bed, ostensibly for a drink, but instead reached for my dress and the concealed carbon-fibre blade that had not been detected by the metal detector at the door.

As the lights went out, I put the blade to Tiffany's throat. For some reason, I felt aroused at the thought of holding a knife to the throat of a naked woman, while I myself was naked!

"Not one fucking word, bitch!" I growled venomously.

Erika sprang up off the bed and rapidly pulled on her dress, shoving her knickers and bra into her bag. She took over with the knife, while I did the same with my clothes. I could hear noise and confusion as GCPD breached from the front and I heard a crash as Fusion breached from the rear, only feet from us. The door to the room burst open and I saw the armoured bulk of Kick-Ass as he pushed through the naked revellers and seized hold of the naked Tiffany.

"You two okay?" Hit Girl demanded.

Erika and I both replied in the affirmative as Hit Girl seized the sheets from the bed and we all headed out the back, just as GCPD were pushing through. A minute later, Erika and I were in Iron Hide along with the naked Tiffany. Jackal was driving and had Hit Girl beside him.

Kick-Ass dived into Mia as it drove past with Marty at the wheel.

* * *

 ** _The warehouse_**

Once the main door was closed, the lights were brought up.

Tiffany was dragged out of Iron Hide and secured by her left hand, with handcuffs, to a support pillar in the centre of the warehouse. She was still very naked.

"You will not live to regret this!" She spat.

"I could say the same thing," Hit Girl retorted. "I need information and you will give it to me... Willingly or otherwise..."

Erika and I climbed up into the RV and sat down. While I considered putting my knickers back on, I could hear screams as Hit Girl appeared to be pounding on Tiffany. Finally, there was one extra-loud scream and then silence. Two minutes later, Hit Girl appeared, followed by Jackal and Kick-Ass. They all pulled off their masks. Mindy sat down to clean off one of her small throwing knives, which was showing signs of having fresh blood on the blade.

"There is still work to be done, but she now knows that I am serious. She knows that she can live without those fingers," Mindy said conversationally. "Just not what I will be removing next."

There were times that Mindy worried me, but this was Marcus that we were avenging, so I chose not to say anything.

"Well done, Chloe, and you Erika. I know it must have been very difficult for you both," Dave said.

"Thanks. It was a challenge, but I enjoyed it," I replied, blushing slightly.

"I could tell!" Josh said coming over and kissing me. "That was one hell of show, girl!"

"If I burn a DVD, will you sign it, Chloe?" Marty asked with a grin.

"Do and die!" I growled, but laughed at the thought.

..._...

Thirty minutes later, Erika drove the three of us back to Wayne Manor. Marty, Dave and Mindy were staying at the warehouse to finish the interrogation.

Erika and I went over to see Tiffany one last time. She glared up at us both. Three of the fingers on her left hand, which was raised above her in the handcuffs, were missing. There were splatters of blood visible on the woman's otherwise pristine body.

I showed no compassion as I gazed down at the woman that only an hour or so previously I had been having sex with, it was time to move on.

As we climbed into the Audi, I could hear Tiffany begging and I heard bones being broken followed by a scream. Hit Girl's voice was menacing and I was glad that I was not staying there.

Mindy had said that they would follow within the hour.

* * *

 ** _Wayne Manor_**

I went upstairs and took a cold shower, hoping that it might alleviate some of the sexual tension I was feeling. It did not help. Erika had warned me there was only one way and that was to get it out of my system.

"You're going to spend the night with Erika?" Josh demanded, seemingly angry.

"Josh, I have to do this. You understand, don't you; I need to get this out of my system... look, come back in ten minutes okay?"

Josh was not convinced as I entered Erika's room and closed the door.

"Ten minutes," Josh called.

* * *

Joshua returned to the bedroom ten minutes later and hearing no sounds, gently pushed open the door.

The room was in semi-darkness. He closed the door behind him and looked over at the enormous bed. There, making absolutely no attempt to cover their bare chests, were Chloe and Erika, sitting up in bed. Joshua had seen Chloe's compact chest many times before, but never Erika's striking D cups, although he had often dreamed about it!

Both girls then climbed out of the bed; they were both completely naked. Whereas Chloe had a neat inverted triangle of dark pubic hair between her soft, but muscular thighs, Erika had none. The sight of the two girls sent almost every drop of blood to Joshua's groin. Erika went over to the door and locked it.

"We don't want to be disturbed, do we?" She breathed before returning to the stunned Joshua.

"You up for this, Josh?" Chloe asked, grinning.

Joshua simply nodded as Erika eased off his t-shirt while Chloe removed his shorts, leaving him completely naked and very, very aroused.

..._...

Erika guided Joshua over to the bed, before shoving him in the chest and sending him backwards onto the bed. Erika then jumped on top of him, resting on his stomach, which suddenly felt wet beneath Erika's opening. Joshua gazed upwards, mesmerised by the sight above him.

Erika was a stunning young woman and Joshua was struggling to keep his eyes from staring at the large breasts and nipples, barely inches from his face. Then, to add to his confusion, Chloe took hold of his right hand and gently placed it on Erika's left breast which was soft and very firm. Erika moaned at his touch, but yelped when Joshua ran his palm over her pert, sensitive, nipple.

Chloe moved in closer and with her right hand, she reached behind Erika and seized hold of Joshua, gently caressing him. With her left hand, she took hold of Erika's other breast and gently massaged the nipple. Joshua could feel his stomach getting wetter and was amazed by what he was witnessing.

Even more so when Chloe let go of him and Erika before gently guiding Erika backwards and Joshua felt himself sliding inside of her. It was a very warm, moist feeling. Chloe then moved up the bed and started to kiss her boyfriend, guiding his hand to her stomach where he moved down and through the almost wet, pubic hair and then gently massaged the parts of Chloe that he knew so well, causing her to moan and buck against his hand.

Joshua was astounded by what was happening to him. There he was, naked and engaged in sexual activities with two very beautiful girls, _at the same time_! Not to mention that the two girls were engaged in sexual activities between themselves.

Erika suddenly squealed and rolled off Joshua. Chloe then started to eat Erika. On the CCTV, the details of what Chloe and Erika had done at the bar were not very clear, but now... Josh was speechless as Chloe stimulated Erika to the point where Erika was unable to keep her pelvic area still. Josh joined in by gently caressing Chloe between her legs. Both girls seemed to scream together as both reached a climax, they both tensed up, and Joshua moved away from Chloe as enormous orgasms hit her and Erika at the same time. Joshua was struggling to maintain control of his own sensations throbbing through his groin.

Joshua allowed Chloe a few minutes to collect her thoughts and emotions before he gently began rubbing her chest with one hand and Erika's with his other while kissing Chloe. Erika moaned at the touch of his hand, before she moved Joshua's hand from her chest to between her legs and she started to moan as he caressed that most sensitive part of her anatomy. With her right hand, Erika gently caressed Chloe's left breast as she moved slowly backwards and forwards against Joshua's hand.

After Erika hit another orgasm, Chloe sat on Joshua's stomach and then gently lowered herself onto him. Erika lay beside them both and, then minutes later, Chloe almost screamed before she rolled off Joshua, kissed him and said three words.

"Fuck me, Jackal!"

Joshua did not need telling twice as he rolled on top of his girlfriend and gently eased himself into her and started thrusting as deep as he could. He was shaking and the perspiration was dripping from his body, just as it was with the girls. Damn, it had to be an erotic dream and he would wake up at any moment. He looked over towards Erika who was stimulating herself as she watched him making love to Chloe.

Chloe screamed and Erika moaned loudly as Joshua shuddered and then Chloe wrapped her legs tightly around him, pinning him to her as she struggled with the intense orgasm that gripped her body. Joshua knew that he could not hold out much longer and then he cried out as he exploded into Chloe and collapsed in exhaustion.

The three of them lay, not moving, just breathing heavily for what seemed like hours.

* * *

"I thought these walls were thick," Mindy commented, as she got undressed.

"Bruce told me they were at least a foot thick," I replied.

"Then Joshua must be having the time of his life, if we heard that through the wall."

Joshua and Chloe had the room next door to us and we had hoped that the thick walls would afford some privacy, as we knew that Chloe was a screamer! However, the screams of Chloe and Erika, not to mention a yell from Joshua, had been only, too easy, to hear.

* * *

 ** _The following morning  
Monday_**

 ** _Wayne Manor_**

I awoke to find myself in the middle of the bed, naked and with an equally naked girl each side of me.

It had _not_ been a dream.

"Morning, stud!" Erika grinned with a twinkle in her brown eyes, as she gazed at him.

"Told you he was good!" Chloe said opening her own green eyes and giving Josh a deep alluring kiss.

"That was, well, awesome and a first for me!" Josh commented.

"It was a night of firsts for all of us," Erika said as she gently let her hand slide down towards Joshua's groin, only to find that Chloe was already there and that Joshua was steadily growing.

"Oh, my, God! Josh breathed.

* * *

 ** _The Dining Room_**

There was a lot of anticipation that morning, as we arrived for breakfast.

Mindy was bursting to question Chloe and Erika about the night's events. I had to admit that I was a little curious, too. Joshua and Chloe, with Erika in tow, arrived last for breakfast.

"You look a little tired this morning, kid!" I quipped and watched as Joshua blushed deeply. I also noticed that both girls were smirking and they seemed very happy with themselves.

"I need a drink; I am feeling a little dry," Josh commented, sitting down at the large table.

"Definitely; you must replace those bodily fluids," Mindy said casually.

Megan looked up with a scowl on her face.

"If you are all hinting about what I think you are hinting about, then breakfast is _not_ the right time!" She exclaimed. "Disgusting fuckers!"

"Tell me more!" Selina demanded, looking at Chloe. "I heard some screams from my end of the corridor."

"I am saying nothing more than that British men have a lot of stamina!" Chloe replied, blushing slightly.

"Now that is something _I_ can agree with," Alfred said as he placed down some plates of food. "Would that be _three_ of everything?"

* * *

 ** _After breakfast_**

"How did it go, last night?"

"Not bad, Cat, not bad," I replied, knowing what she was going to ask next.

"I heard Dave say that there was a video – can we see it?"

I felt myself blushing.

"No!" I replied, maybe a little too strongly.

"That was what Dave said!" Cat replied forlornly. "Must have been awesome, though. I've heard of that club..."

"It was awesome, Cat, it was."

"I think you are amazing, Chloe. I saw that video of you and Mindy, in that bank thing. The way you took down that last bastard..."

"Thanks, Cat. It was a strange day that one. It wasn't planned, none of it, but you just have to react to what the world throws at you."

"I want to learn to do what you do; it is so incredible."

"It is not for the faint-hearted, Cat. It is a one way street; you want to learn then I'm sure Mindy will let you, but believe me when I say that Mindy will not take any shit. She refused to take it from me, and more than once, she has kicked the shit out of me. One time she even kicked me out of Fusion, when I fucked up really badly."

Cat looked shocked by that revelation.

"Yeah, the famous Shadow fucks up!" I admitted. "I sometimes don't like following orders that I don't believe in, but every time I've ignored orders, I've almost died. Mindy is a bitch for a reason!"

"I understand..."

"Will you follow orders and directions?" I asked, meaningfully, seeing that I had hit the nail squarely on the head.

"How old were you when you joined Mindy?" Cat asked.

"I was thirteen. I am now fifteen. I have often chosen to take the hard route to learning; I have wounds that constantly remind me of that, as do we all."

I pulled on arm out of my t-shirt so Cat could see the wounds on my shoulder. Cat looked shocked. I pulled my t-shirt back on.

"Ask Megan what happened when she thought she knew what she was doing and went off on her own..."

"Thank you, Chloe, you've been very candid with me."

"I'm glad I could help."

* * *

 ** _That afternoon_**

I was alone in one of the many long corridors that threaded their way through the Manor.

There was a lot running through my mind. The interrogation of Tiffany had been bloody, but successful. We now had another operation to put together…

Then, out of nowhere, I was ambushed. I had been certain that they would both try to get me alone; I was right.

"Do I need to slap you both?" I asked casually.

Chloe just grinned. I suddenly realised that I was playing into their hands, so I shut up before I said something that I might regret.

"Mindy, please!" Chloe almost begged.

"Told you she was chicken!" Erika said with a smirk.

"I am not..."

"Mindy, you have a great body; I know as I've seen you naked. Only, I want more of you..."

"Are you fucking with me?" I asked, instantly regretting my choice of words.

"No, but I wish I were," Chloe replied with a genuine smile.

"Just because you two enjoy being porn stars does not mean I like to flaunt my shit!"

"We won't film it, promise!" Chloe said quickly.

"Just think how much people would pay to see Hit Girl, Shadow and Mist fucking!" Erika mused.

"I am _not_ having this conversation!" I warned and dived down another corridor.

* * *

Outside, I found Megan training Bruce.

I stayed to watch.

"Hit me!" Megan said innocently.

"You an eleven..."

Megan flew at Bruce performing a perfect somersault and slapping him across the face on the way, before he could even finish the sentence. She landed lightly, behind him.

"What in hell...?"

Megan repeated the somersault as Bruce tried to turn towards her. She slapped him again, but as she landed, she stuck out her left leg and rammed her foot into Bruce's stomach. The boy fell backwards onto the grass with a yell.

"Dear, dear, Master Bruce. You really are not going to get very far in Gotham if you keep allowing yourself to be knocked down by young ladies," Alfred said with a smirk and a wink at the grinning Megan.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Alfred!" Bruce grimaced from the grass.

"Of course, Master Bruce!"

Alfred approved of anything, which would get Bruce's mind off his parents or better the boy's standing, in the world. A few bumps, scrapes and bruises were nothing as far as Alfred was concerned, much to Bruce's annoyance.

I was proud of Megan for being able to put her training to good use for Bruce. As Josh had commented early that day, Megan was no longer a Youngling she was a Padawan. Megan had been very happy with that description! Curtis and Tommy, though, still had a lot to learn and I did notice a little jealousy on Curtis' part when he saw the Katana. Curtis still needed to prove himself; he also needed to improve his skills.

..._...

That evening found two young people gingerly sitting down at the table for dinner. Bruce had some visible bruising on his left cheek and he was complaining about his sore thighs. Selina had found that while she thought herself nimble and fit, she found that Chloe was quicker and fitter. This has stopped Selina winding up poor Bruce about not being up to the challenge!

Chloe had told me about her conversation with Selina. I had doubts about the girl, but I had had doubts about Joshua too and how wrong I had been about him!

* * *

 ** _That Night_**

"Dave, they want me to..."

"I'm not stopping you. Whatever floats your boat, girl!"

I glared at Dave.

"They are two of my best friends and I trust them both with my life, so I know that they are only suggesting this because they truly believe that I will benefit from it," Mindy said. "One side of me, the main side, tells me to run away, damn fast! However, another side tells me that I might just enjoy the experience. It can't hurt me!"

"All true."

"Up until know, you have been the cause of every orgasm that I have ever had. Nobody else has _ever_ touched me, but you, Dave. I think Chloe is the only person, other than you, that has actually even seen me naked. I suppose I should be flattered that seeing me naked has not put her off!"

"Why should it, Mindy – despite what you think about yourself, you are one hot chick; you being Hit Girl notwithstanding."

"I know; everybody wants to fuck or fuck over, Hit Girl!"


	11. Lucius Fox

**_The next afternoon  
Tuesday_**

 ** _Midtown_**

 _The BMW roared around the corner, with the two SUVs close on its bumper._

 _Smoke billowed from the tyres as they fought for grip on the blacktop. The three vehicles were racing at over fifty miles per hour and swerving to avoid other vehicles. First one, then two stoplights were violated as the chase increased in speed and lethality. One SUV was able to close and creep up the right hand side of the BMW. The driver of the SUV turned his wheel to the left and smashed into the BMW with a grinding of steel and hiss of sparks. The BMW swerved away from the SUV, but then it skidded on some watery oil and moved sideways down the street for a dozen yards before the back end hit another car and pointing the luxury vehicle in the correct direction. It accelerated, the six-litre V12 engine whipping every horsepower it possessed into service. The SUVs had larger super-charged engines and closed the gap rapidly. The three vehicles continued through the West Side of Midtown and ahead of them were the Sheal Docklands that sat on the Queens River. The BMW never slowed down as it smashed through the wire mesh gates into the docks, sending the security guards running for cover. The SUVs continued in their pursuit, but then luck ran out for the driver of the BMW as a warehouse appeared ahead, blocking the road. The BMW's driver stomped on the brakes to no avail as the BMW smashed through the thin metal walls of the warehouse and finally stopped, its front end smashed up into a pile of boxes._

 _The driver was not moving._

* * *

 ** _Downtown_**

I was pissed off; the scene was unreal! I could not believe that the bastards had managed to get the drop on me.

I had no idea why, but I felt groggy, so maybe I had been drugged; that made me feel a little better. The last thing I remembered was heading into Midtown, in the BMW, alone. There had been no reason to be concerned; it had been broad daylight and in the safer part of the City. Although in hindsight, this was Gotham!

My head was sore and it felt like I had banged it. I looked up and found that my wrists were bound securely and then secured to a large, rusting steel nail in the wall. The man slapped me again, with the back of his hand and I could taste the blood in my mouth. I just glared back at him; I had to be careful not to overplay the part and give us all away.

"Just tell us what we want to know!" The man said, trying to be polite.

"I have nothing to tell you!" I insisted, pretending to sound just a little bit scared.

"I don't believe you, bitch!" The man yelled and yanked at my dress, ripping the top and revealing my black bra, underneath.

The man and his colleagues smirked when they saw bare skin and the bra. Then the beating began as another man blindsided me with a punch into my stomach. All the breath was forced from my lungs in one go and I screamed, which was not all pretend! I had taken worse punches from other members of Fusion, so that one could be ignored. The next punch, however, struck me in the chest right on my left breast and it hurt like fuck; I screamed for real, that time.

Nothing they could do to me would make me reveal my secrets.

I would stay silent until they silenced me permanently.

* * *

 ** _Wayne Manor_**

"Keep your head up, watch me!"

She was a cast iron bitch, not to mention the short ass!

"Cat, you listening?" Chloe called.

"Yeah, sorry, my attention wavered," I replied. I was exhausted!

"A few more punches and then we'll call it a day, okay?"

"Thanks, Chloe," I replied with a forced smile.

"You're letting her off easy!" Megan complained.

Megan loved torturing people, especially me! She may have been quite a few inches shorter than I was, but she was capable of kicking my fucking ass. I had always thought of myself as being able to look after myself, but this lot made me look like a fucking pussy.

* * *

"A good view, is it, Master Bruce?"

Bruce jumped up sharply at the interruption.

"Err, no, Alfred. I mean yes." Bruce stammered, looking embarrassed.

Bruce was sitting in a chair, not fifteen yards from where the three young girls were exercising their skills.

"Unfortunately I am _much_ too old to enjoy those sights..."

Alfred walked off with a laugh.

* * *

 ** _Downtown_**

I regained consciousness for what seemed like the hundredth time.

My head span and my legs would no longer support me. I was hanging from my wrists, which was very uncomfortable. I looked down and saw that I was only wearing my knickers and bra. My dress was in tatters on the floor, along with my shoes. I could feel dried blood on my face and I could see more dried blood on my body, where it had run down.

"You are awake again?"

I glared at the boss man.

"Ready for some more?" The boss man continued with a leer. "Well, let's remove this shall we?"

The man flicked open a knife and cut off my bra, not very expertly, as he managed to cut and nick me.

"Nice!" One man declared, leering at my bare chest.

"Seen bigger, I has!" Another man laughed.

"Let's see some more, shall we?" The boss man asked, reaching for my panties.

Before the man could do more than touch my waist, I heard gunshots, medium-calibre. I felt myself being hauled off the nail and then dropped to the ground where I must have hit my head.

Everything went black.

* * *

 ** _Elsewhere in Gotham_**

"Don Falcone, we have the woman."

"You have a gift; that is for sure, my friend."

* * *

 ** _Downtown_**

I came around slowly.

Only this time, I was lying on something soft and I had a warm blanket covering me. I ran my hands across my body, finding that I was still only in my panties. Where the fuck was I now?

"You are awake!" A deep, friendly sounding voice stated.

I opened my eyes and saw a kindly faced black man, with a moustache and short greying hair.

"Who... Who are you?"

"Most people call me Fox, but for a beautiful lady like yourself; you may call me Lucius."

"Okay, Mr Fox, err, Lucius, where am I?"

"About ten stories below Wayne Tower. The Applied Sciences Division. Funny thing happened to me today. I was out by the docks, checking on some new equipment when I heard gunfire; not exactly unknown in that part of Gotham, but then I saw you being shoved into the back seat of a car. The driver was stupid enough to leave the keys in the ignition while he went back into the building, so I stole the car!"

It sounded like a plausible story! I was in a comfortable looking office on a large couch, but it was hard to believe that I was ten stories below ground.

"You do have some cuts and bruises, but they are in areas that I did not want to touch. I cleaned up you head wounds, though."

"Thank you, Lucius. I don't suppose you have any clothes that I could borrow. My dress got a little torn up and the nearest change is at Wayne Manor."

"So, you are one of those people staying with young Master Wayne!"

I had a distinct feeling that Mr Fox knew _exactly_ who I was and where I was staying. He struck me as a man that kept himself informed.

"I knew Thomas Wayne; he was a good friend. Bruce is a good lad and Alfred is doing everything that he can to help the boy. I have been meaning to say hello, but have not had the moment," Fox explained further. "Now, Miss Macready, I had better find you some clothes!"

* * *

 ** _Wayne Manor_**

It seemed that nobody had missed me!

I was also pleased to see that Alfred welcomed Lucius Fox into Wayne Manor, which confirmed what he had told me.

"What the hell happened to you?" Josh blurted out, looking at the blood on me, not to mention the fact that I was wearing a set of overalls that were _way,_ too big for me.

"Holy fuck!" Chloe exclaimed. "Mindy!"

"Who is out in Gotham?" I demanded.

"Right now?" Abby enquired. "Just Dave and Curtis."

"Get them back, right the hell now. Wipe my cell, it was compromised."

Abby pulled out her cell phone and started punching numbers as she headed towards the rear of the Manor and Mia.

"Who is this?" Chloe asked.

"May I introduce a good family friend, Dr Lucius Fox," Alfred said.

"Hello," Chloe and Josh said together.

"Hello," Fox replied.

"Let's get your wounds looked at, Miss Mindy," Alfred insisted.

I allowed Alfred to take me through the study where Bruce soon appeared with a first aid kit. Alfred changed the dressing that Fox had applied to my head and checked the wounds.

"Nothing much there. You feeling dizzy or anything like that?" Alfred asked. "Do you remember everything that has happened to you today?"

"Unfortunately, I remember everything from when they took me, but I have no idea how I ended up there.

"Maybe I can fill in the gaps, Miss Macready."

It was Detective Gordon.

* * *

"Your BMW was found, smashed up in a warehouse at the Sheal Docks. I assume that the car has incriminating evidence," Gordon smiled. "So I have had it towed, un inspected, to a safe place."

"Thank you, Detective," I said. One mystery solved.

"We also have reports of a high speed chase through Midtown. A BMW and two SUVs."

I could not remember any of it.

"I have no memory of that."

Abby appeared.

"I can't get a hold of them, but I am attempting to triangulate their location. The GPS is not locking for their Audi, not their cells," She explained unhappily.

I jumped up and left the room.

* * *

 ** _Uptown_**

I dropped to my knees as another blow landed in my stomach.

Another blow struck my face and I fell to my backside. I heard a scream and felt a small body land beside me. I looked up at my attacker and glared defiantly.

"Leave the boy alone, bastard!" I growled.

"You were both trespassing where neither of you belonged!" A voice said simply.

"I saw no signs," I replied, wiping the blood from my nose.

"This place belongs to Don Falcone and he don't like trespassers; even if it is some rich bastard and the boy he wants to fuck," The cocky mobster went on.

"Not even close; but you _will_ pay for that remark," I growled.

"We'll leave you two together; goodnight!" The man laughed and the men filed out, slamming the door behind them.

..._...

I turned to the sobbing boy beside me, pulling him around so that I could see his face. There was blood and bruising, not to mention some swelling. I was seething with rage at what those bastards had done to the boy.

"Hey, Curtis; let's get to work."

"Sorry Dave, I shouldn't be crying like this."

"You're doing okay, kid!"

I dragged myself painfully to my feet and began to examine where were imprisoned.

* * *

 ** _That evening_**

 ** _The warehouse_**

Mindy was beside herself with worry and so was I.

Dave was not answering his cell and neither was Curtis. There was also no GPS signal from their cell phones. The Audi's GPS was now responding and was located in the street where it had been all afternoon.

While Abby was still searching for them, Erika, Chloe, Josh, Mindy and me, piled into an Audi and Erika drove us to the warehouse. The plan was for Mindy to rest until it was time for action, whenever that might be.

"Megan, go check Iron Hide," Josh suggested to me.

* * *

I was almost suited up; I just had my mask to pull on.

"Chloe, you coming?" Mindy asked.

I looked over to see Mindy in her full combat suit minus her mask.

"Err, Mindy, I thought we agreed that you would rest for a few hours before you went out again; you're exhausted."

"Don't, tell me what to do!" Mindy replied, instantly angry.

"Hey, Mindy, that's the tiredness talking – you're not going anywhere," I insisted.

"I get it! You want me to slap you again like last time, so I'll feel guilty and, and..."

"Mindy, I _will_ stand up to you and you know that," I said carefully.

"Dave is out there; I need to find him..."

"We will find him, together!" I pushed. "You are no good to him like you are now. I know exactly how you feel about him..."

"No you fucking don't..."

"No! I had to go through the same damn thing when Joshua went missing from The Farm, or have you forgotten about _that_!"

Mindy ignored the comment.

"I'm going and you are _not_ going to stop me..."

* * *

I was wondering what all the shouting was about and as I came around the back of the large RV.

I saw Chloe throw Mindy to the floor, but then seconds later Mindy flipped Chloe over and pinned her; it was immediately obvious that this was _not_ a friendly sparring session.

"I am Hit Girl; nobody tells me what I can and can't do!" Mindy growled in a very dangerous voice.

"Not even your friends?" Chloe retorted venomously.

"You are no friend of mine; a true friend would not prevent me from looking for Dave," 'Mindy' said coldly.

..._...

That was not Mindy talking. That was the side of Mindy, which, I was glad to say, I had yet to experience. It was the truly malevolent side to Mindy; the true Hit Girl that I had only heard about from Dave. Chloe had limited experience of that version of Hit Girl and I knew that Dave was the only one with real control over the Jekyll and Hyde personality that was Mindy Macready and Hit Girl.

Dave had once confided in me that Chloe also seemed to have some form of limited control over Mindy's mind-set, which was why Mindy and Chloe often teamed up together.

Dave was not able to predict the events, which might bring out the dark side of Mindy. However, from what I knew of Dave and Mindy's history, Mindy had abandonment issues and the thought of losing Dave might very well be enough to trigger a mental change within her; not to mention that she had been hit around the head only hours previously. While our usual Hit Girl was still violent, the darker Hit Girl would take extreme risks and increase the levels of violence to bloodthirsty proportions, which often included collateral damage.

I was not scared of Mindy nor Hit Girl; I respected both for their abilities. Unlike the rest of us, with our two identities, Mindy and Hit Girl were so intertwined that they were one. To be honest, I was now feeling scared of what was going on before me.

I was wearing my full combat suit, including mask, so I ran forwards and sent Mindy flying backwards and away from Chloe. In the state Mindy was, I had no idea what she was capable of doing to friend or foe.

"Okay!" Mindy held up her hands and glared at us both. "Fucking bitches!"

It was not an idle comment, either; she meant it.

"I am going, with or without you – end of discussion."

* * *

I looked at Megan and grimaced.

We had no choice but to give in to her.

"Chloe, you go with that thing," Josh said angrily, indicating Mindy. "Erika can take Megan and follow in Iron Hide. I'll stay with them."

Mindy pulled on her mask and walked over to her Panigale. She seemed oblivious to the trouble she had caused. I pulled on my own mask and mounted my Ducati Multistrada. Jackal, once he had pulled on his own mask, mounted his Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R and started the engine. Wildcat climbed into Iron Hide beside Mist.

* * *

Hit Girl accelerated out of the building the moment the lights went out and the doors opened. She was accompanied by Shadow. I turned to check on the two girls in Iron Hide. On a nod from Mist, I rode out into the darkness, with Iron Hide close behind.


	12. Rescue

**_That night  
Tuesday_**

 ** _Uptown_**

We all roared over the Adams Bridge ignoring the strange looks that we received.

Gotham would need to get used to vigilantes about the City; they needed us. The last known location of Dave's Audi S8 was on Court Street in North Point near to the docks. I was worried; if they had gotten to me, then they could have gotten to Dave. I did not want anything to happen to Dave; however, I would not forgive myself if anything happened to Curtis.

I knew that Chloe was right; I should not have been out yet, but I did not give a fuck. I had work to do and people were going to die. I had no idea who had taken me, but I was going to find out.

When I did find out, they were going to suffer.

* * *

 ** _Elsewhere in Gotham_**

"You what!"

"It was Maroni's men; they attacked," Cobblepot complained.

"Maroni?"

"Yes, Don Falcone."

"What about the man?"

"He is safe."

"I want to see him, tonight."

"Yes, Don Falcone."

* * *

 ** _Uptown_**

The enemy would know that we were out on the streets.

We were in Gotham; there were more snitches and informers than rats in the sewers. However, we had a plan. I looked across at Hit Girl, riding alongside me.

"Hit Girl, focus on the task, not on Kick-Ass or Trojan," I cautioned.

I saw a vague nod.

"I will," Came the reply. It did not sound like Mindy, or even Hit Girl for that matter.

I would have to watch out for her. Jackal was out ahead of us and he reported trouble.

"GCPD are out; I can see Flass and his corrupt Major Crimes scum!" Jackal reported. "Taking fire."

* * *

I took the first turn at speed leaning over before hurtling past the marked and unmarked GCPD cars.

The Cops turned to follow me as I braked hard and slid into a one-eighty-degree turn. I now faced the Cops, revving my engine. I accelerated hard, heading directly at Flass who dived out of the way, as I raised the front of my machine exposing the Kevlar protected underside to the police gunfire. I dropped two stun grenades as I passed.

After both grenades had exploded and while the Cops rolled around with their hands holding their heads, Hit Girl and Shadow blasted through at high speed, followed a few minutes later by Iron hide.

I followed the convoy, accelerating ahead to look for more trouble. I waved as I passed Hit Girl and Shadow.

Hit Girl did not wave back.

* * *

 ** _Wharf F_**

The beatings were back.

My pain was nothing; I could handle that. However, the pain I could _not_ bear were the screams coming from Curtis. The bastards were using him, to get to me. That was low, even for Gotham.

"Won't one of you old women fight a man, instead of beating up a boy who is so much more of a man than any of you?" I yelled, pulling against my restraints.

The biggest man threw Curtis to the concrete floor and turned to me.

"Hard man are you?" He demanded. "Think you could take me?"

I looked over at Curtis, lying on the floor and felt my anger moving past 'incensed', through 'dangerous' and directly to 'spitting nuclear fire'.

"Bring it on, cunt!" I growled, putting as much menace as I could into my response.

The man hesitated, but he was being pushed on and encouraged by his minions.

"Cut him loose!" The man ordered.

..._...

Two men came forward and removed the cuffs that were restraining me. I studied my opponent; he was large and the rippling muscles were obvious. I had muscles, but I also had my pain threshold. That should help to balance things out. I looked down at Curtis, smirked encouragement, and nodded towards the door.

I flexed all my muscles and joints removing any kinks and filing the pain away for later. I drove in and landed the first power punch into the man's kidney, doubling him over, but only for a second.

The man was now pissed, but so was I.

* * *

The fight began in earnest and the blows flew.

I was shaking with fear and with the pain; my body hurt all over. I watched as Dave started pounding into the other man. I knew Dave was powerful and he wreaked vengeance when kitted out as the fearsome Kick-Ass, but he was facing a very powerfully built man and without his usual heavy armour.

Then I had an idea; Dave's fight was going to make a damn good distraction for me to make my escape.

* * *

 ** _Court Street_**

We had found the Audi and it was secure.

Dave and Curtis must have headed into the docks; not clever, but maybe they had no choice. We headed for what we knew to be Don Falcone's part of the docks, off Haley Avenue. Unfortunately, Don Falcone's men were waiting for us at the dock gates; we would have to fight our way in. We had no time for finesse, so I ordered Mist and Wildcat in, with Iron Hide.

Mist drove the armoured pickup directly at the gates and the men arranged before them. Iron Hide's engine roared as the massive vehicle accelerated and built up enormous momentum. The men in the way finally decided that they might come off worse after a collision with Iron Hide, so they wisely dived out of the way.

* * *

Iron Hide smashed through the gates.

Mist guided the vehicle around a pair of empty SUVs and back towards the gates. I leant out of the passenger window and started shooting with my new SIG pistol. Two men dropped; they had to choose to fight us, or the three motorcycles that roared towards them from the opposite direction. I recognised the sharp crack of Jackal's FN Five-seveN pistol as he closed the gates.

I watched as Shadow's motorcycle was intercepted by a large man who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. After striking the man, the Multistrada fell off to one side and Shadow fought to control it, but came off her machine and rolled to one side.

..._...

"Shadow is in the green!"

I was relieved to hear the call and I saw Shadow climb back to her feet, pull off her helmet and check her limbs before drawing her pistol. She then turned and started shooting with her own FN Five-seveN pistol.

Mist stopped the truck, opened the door and started shooting with both of her Walther P99C pistols.

* * *

I had seen Shadow go down, but then heard her call that she was okay.

Talk about a moment of panic!

The place was like a warzone, bullets flying everywhere. I parked my Kawasaki, pulled off my helmet and ran towards the fight, drawing my Ninja-To. Hit Girl had also parked her Panigale, ripped off her helmet and she was reaping vengeance on Don Falcone's men. Two men fell to separate blades as Hit Girl whirled around cutting both men in half above the waist. The four sections tumbling to the ground, blood gushing for the drains.

I registered Iron Hide, with the two girls now engaged with reinforcements that had come from one of the warehouses. I turned as Hit Girl threw one of Falcone's men up against a warehouse wall.

"Where are they?" She growled.

The man was scared, but who was he more scared of, Hit Girl or Falcone? Apparently, Falcone, as Hit Girl drove her Tanto in one ear and out the other. She smiled as the blood flew when she withdrew the blade. She hauled up another man, this one with a bullet wound to his thigh.

..._...

Hit Girl shoved a finger of her gauntlet into the bullet hole, while pinning the man about the neck. The man screamed at the pain. Hit Girl pressed harder and the man screamed louder.

"Let me find that bullet for you?" Hit Girl said sweetly as she pulled out a throwing knife from the array on her own thigh and drove it into the bullet wound on the man's thigh. The scream was unearthly.

"Where are they?" She growled again and the man conceded.

"Warehouse 42, Wharf F!"

"Thank you!" Hit Girl growled as she stuck the knife through the man's right ear and into his brain, killing him.

She turned to me.

"Let's move!"

* * *

Dave was not holding back as he fought.

If anything, his punches were getting stronger. I felt scared watching him; I had rarely had the opportunity to see a really, pissed off Kick-Ass! I used his fight to, very slowly, move towards the door and I hoped, escape.

All attention was on Dave and the other cunt; I was home free as I slipped out of the door. I stood up as soon as I was in the clear and stretched my aching joints and muscles. I ran towards what I hoped was the exit. Then a man appeared around a corner, however, I was ready for a fight; he was not. I dug deep down for the last of my energy and jumped at the man, kicking him in the throat.

I rolled as I hit the concrete, jumping back up and stomping my shoe into the man's face. There was a pistol visible, so I seized it, recognising it as a SIG Sauer P226. I checked the magazine was full and then grabbed two spare magazines from the man's pocket. The man stirred, so I put a bullet into his face; it felt good.

I ran in the direction the man had come from and as I neared the outside wall of the enormous warehouse, I could hear gunfire. That had to be Fusion; at least I hoped so!

Then I turned as men appeared and they started shooting as I dived behind a truck.

* * *

It took all five of us to fight our way through the men battling around Iron Hide.

Wharf F was beyond them. Hit Girl was slashing with her blades and Shadow was wielding her bō-staff to devastating effect. I noticed that Shadow was limping slightly, but that was expected considering that she had come off her motorcycle at speed only a dozen minutes earlier.

While Hit Girl and Shadow fought alongside Mist, I grabbed Wildcat and we pushed through the crowd towards Wharf F.

"You okay?" I asked Wildcat, she was limping a bit, too.

"Nothing that can't wait till later, pal!" She responded, which was a bit of a surprise. I had expected a violent insult!

We approached Warehouse 42 and saw the way in. I could hear shooting inside; that worried me. I kicked the door in and ran towards the shooting. After a dozen yards, there was an amazing sight. I could see Curtis shooting a pistol from behind a vehicle. There were several bodies on the ground.

"Jackal coming in!" I bellowed.

Curtis turned and almost shot me, but he smiled. I pushed him down, started shooting and I was joined by Wildcat. Curtis' fight was over; he was safe.

"Where is Dave?" I asked Curtis.

"Back room, fighting!" Curtis yelled back over the noise, waving towards the men.

"Stay here!" I yelled back and made a move forward, with Wildcat beside me.

We were joined by Shadow and Hit Girl while Mist took Curtis outside to Iron Hide. We headed in the direction Curtis had indicated.

* * *

The man was fading fast, but so was I.

I pounded my fists into his bruised and bloody skin, both on his body and his head. I landed two rapid punches into his face, one after the other. Then he fell like a telegraph pole onto the concrete face down. I looked up, sensing another person in the room.

"So you finally decided to turn up!"

"Just a little gratitude would go a long way!" Hit Girl growled, however, there was a lot of relief in her voice.

"Pistol!" I demanded.

Hit Girl handed over a Glock and I fired two bullets into the back of the bastards head. Hit Girl seemed a little confused. I handed the Glock back and left the room without looking back.

"Curtis?"

"Safe."

I looked around and saw bodies lying across the warehouse.

"Curtis' vengeance!" Shadow commented.

I ignored her and walked up to the scum that had insinuated a relationship between Curtis and myself. He was sitting on the concrete, blood on his shoulder; he was being covered by Jackal.

"I have now come for payment..."

"I meant nothing, please, I..." The man begged.

* * *

I watched as Dave, covered in blood and bruises, walked behind the man.

He turned, hauling the man to his feet. He reached out with both hands and... Oh, fuck! Dave had twisted the man's head sharply, snapping his neck. Dave ignored the body as it fell and walked away.

"What the fuck was that about?" I asked Shadow.

"Beats me!" An equally confused Shadow replied.

* * *

 ** _Wharf F_**

I was so happy to see Dave as he approached Iron Hide. I dived out and ran to hug him.

"You did well, Trojan!" Dave said with a smile.

"You win your fight?"

"Do you really need to ask?"

"Not really!

* * *

 ** _The warehouse_**

We loaded Shadow's wrecked motorcycle into the back of Iron Hide and headed back to the warehouse, leaving the bodies for the GCPD.

The team was still intact and safe. I knew that I had some bridges to rebuild, but they could wait, or so I thought. Dave was furious when we arrived at the warehouse and he grabbed me before I had had the chance to remove much more than my helmet. He pinned me up against a pillar, actually the same one that I had used to torture Tiffany.

"What the hell did you think you were doing?" Dave bellowed.

"I had to find you..."

"You were supposed to have been resting after what happened to you."

"I..."

"You had a head injury and you went out to fight?" Dave shouted again. "How goddamned stupid can you fucking get?"

Dave was the only person that could speak to me like that and remain standing, except of course for Marcus. I knew that Dave's comments were fully justified, too. I was shocked at the state of Dave and I just wanted to hug him and kiss him, but right now, I just felt so low when I should have been happy.

"You finished?" I retorted glad the mask was hiding my embarrassment.

"Not by a fucking long shot, Mindy!" Dave said quietly. "It can wait till tomorrow, though."

* * *

 ** _Wayne Manor_**

There were many injuries to sort out.

I was okay, not having much more than a few bruises, so I helped attend to those who had worse. Dave was being tended to by Alfred and Erika was checking out Chloe. I went to find Curtis and Megan. I found them in the room that they shared. Curtis had taken a shower and Megan was fixing the wounds on his face.

"You guys okay?" I asked, expecting Megan to tell me where to go.

"Yeah, thanks, Josh. I think it's only cosmetic with Curtis, no bones broken."

"I'm tough!" The boy said bravely, but I could see that he had taken a beating and was hurting.

I could also see that Megan was very concerned for Curtis' wellbeing. I also knew that she had been hurt, too.

"What about you?" I asked.

Megan hesitated and then she gave in, somewhat reluctantly.

"A bullet grazed my leg. The suit prevented injury, but it hurt like hell; that was why I was limping."

"You said you weren't hurt!" Curtis exclaimed.

"I'm sorry, I'm still struggling with being open to people," Megan said with a smile.

The girl was changing!

"Show me!" I ordered.

Megan hesitated, but slid off her joggers and I glared at her as I saw the vicious bruising on her left thigh and also on her lower leg. The worst bruising was not far from where the scar from one of her three stab wounds could be seen on her thigh.

"Just the one bullet, Megan?"

"Okay, it was more than one... Plus some asshole hit me with his bat."

"You've got to stop hiding injuries, Megan!" Curtis insisted.

"I'm sorry, I'm trying!"

I knew that Megan saw injuries as weaknesses and she hated showing weakness. She was anything, but weak, though, despite her limited stature. She fought as well as any of us.

"I'll send Erika in after she's finished with Chloe. Just, please, do not hide things, Megan. I respect you a lot, and I hope you respect me enough to know that I will always look after you, like a sister."

"Thanks, Josh. You're too good to me, considering..."

"Suck it up, Wildcat, don't go soft on me!" I laughed and Megan coloured slightly.

* * *

Despite the way that I often treated him, I thought of Joshua as my big brother.

I hated to do anything that upset him; I knew he cared about me and I was wrong to try to hide my injuries. Mindy's chat the other night had meant a lot to me; I just hated to show weakness. I was the youngest member of Fusion and I hated the thought that anybody might believe me to be incapable of fighting as well as anybody else could.

Okay, I had a large chip on my shoulder!

I owed Mindy and I owed Joshua; it had been he, who had initially helped me away from what could have been a life of crime. I remembered it like it was yesterday. Jackal and Hit Girl had come across me vandalising cars. Josh had been kind to me and for some reason I had gone along with his suggestion to go home. If that had not happened then Mindy might never have employed my Mom and I could never have become Wildcat. I owed many people and I was still only eleven!

I had to grow up, too, I had responsibilities and I did not want to miss anything.


	13. Below Wayne Manor

**_The following morning  
Wednesday_**

 ** _Wayne Manor_**

I slept badly.

The bruises hurt and worse, Dave was still pissed at me. Apart from him checking me for injuries and allowing me to help with his own, he had barely said a word since returning to Wayne Manor, the previous night.

Dave being pissed at me made me want revenge. Falcone had caused the shit and he would pay, but then I considered Chloe's words to me the previous evening and decided to think things through first. I went for a shower after Dave and I found him gone when I came back out of the bathroom. Instead, I found Megan sitting on my bed.

"Your turn to fuck up, I see!" Megan smirked.

"Thanks for your encouragement, just what I need first thing in the morning!"

"Shit happens, get over it!"

"I made a mistake last night. I know it all worked out, kind of; but it could have gone better, if I had been in a better frame of mind."

Megan just looked at me as somebody would a young child.

"Oh, horseshit! There is no point in second-guessing yourself, Mindy. That does not make things any easier, believe me!"

I actually looked up in surprise at Megan's comment.

"Josh was right; your brain _is_ maturing just as fast as your body. For a Yank to impress a Brit is no mean feat!"

Megan blushed a little and smiled at the compliment.

"Joshua is like a big brother to me and I'm glad he's looking out for me, just as Chloe looks out for you."

"I know I said some nasty things to her and I will make it up to her. Sometimes I cannot control myself and I'm sorry you had to see me like that."

"We all have shit that we have to bear. You just don't have to bear it alone."

"You got hurt, didn't you?" I continued, wanting to change the subject away from my own failings.

"Only bruises. Josh and Erika sorted me out."

"Let me get dressed and then we can go get some breakfast."

* * *

"You two not talking?" Alfred asked politely.

"Mindy has a habit of going too far," I commented, trying not to sound annoyed.

"She meant well; she took a risk, yes, but as they used to say in The Regiment, 'Who Dares Wins'!" Alfred went on. "She dared, she won; job done, ready for the next mission! She's learnt her lesson."

"I'm only mad at her because I love her and she could have got herself killed. She _has_ learnt her lesson, but I know that she will do it again. It's part of the reason that I love her."

Mindy was squirming beside me as many eyes watched her.

"She's wild, she's Hit Girl and she's mine!" I stated before turning and planting my lips firmly on those that belonged to a very shocked Mindy.

"Fucking wow!" Megan announced, standing up for a better look.

"More tea, anyone!" Alfred announced as a distraction.

Mindy was responding to my kissing and kissing back.

"Hey!" It was Chloe's voice. "Some of us are trying to eat, here!"

I released Mindy and allowed her to breath. Every square inch of skin on her face was bright red.

"I'll have some more tea, please, Alfred!" I said.

* * *

 ** _Later that morning_**

 ** _Wayne Manor_**

"Miss Mindy, a visitor for you," Alfred announced.

Detective Gordon walked into the study and nodded at the faces arrayed around him.

"Good morning, Detective," I said with a smile.

"You look good, considering your ordeal."

"Thank you."

Detective Gordon sat down next to Chloe and looked over at me.

"You guys have a problem!"

"We do?" I asked.

"Yes, Miss Macready, you do," Detective Gordon continued. "It seems that there is a rumour going around town that _you_ , Miss Macready, are the purple vigilante called Hit Girl."

"I wish!" I laughed, although I felt a little uneasy.

* * *

 ** _Early that afternoon_**

 ** _Below Wayne Tower_**

"Miss Macready, Mr Lizewski; welcome!"

"Thank you for inviting us, Lucius," I said, smiling.

"You lot a lot better than the last time you were here," Fox commented discreetly.

"Yeah, I have clothes on!" I quipped and Dave growled. "You never met my fiancé, Dave Lizewski."

"You really must be something to have caught and retained such an amazing young woman, Mr Lizewski."

"Dave, please; I owe you for saving Mindy's life."

"Right place, right time!"

"Call me Mindy, I insist."

"Well, Mindy, did you bring it?" Fox asked.

"Yes, I did…" I replied, handing over my Hit Girl mask.

"Back in a few minutes…"

"He's a nice guy!" Dave commented.

"Definitely!" I agreed. "Bit strange, though. Reminds me of Morgan Freeman."

..._...

Fox was back in a little over five minutes, during which time we had allowed our eyes to wander over the awesome things that sat around the office. He was holding my mask in his hands.

"Put it on!" Fox directed and I did what I was told.

Fox ran his finger gently beneath the side edge of my mask, then removed his hand smartly. He turned to Dave.

"Dave, please remove Mindy's mask. Mindy no need to stop him."

Dave smirked and reached forwards.

"Fuck!" He exploded, snapping his hand back from the edge of my mask.

"What happened?" I asked. I had felt nothing.

"Dave just received a nasty electric shock; a strong electric current flows through extremely thin electrical fibres that are interwoven into the mask. It is easily retrofitted and it will _not_ shock the wearer. Once armed with a small switch at the side of your mask, near the neck, there is a six-second charging period before the charge is live and functional. Good for more than a dozen shocks on one charge."

"Nice!" Dave laughed.

..._...

"Advanced polymer composite body armour," Fox said as he pulled open a large drawer.

"Thinner and stronger than what you guys are currently wearing. Also more flexible. I assume that is your biggest trade off, Mindy. You require flexibility and lightness, so you sacrifice stopping power. Dave, you can wear almost any armour, however the extra weight will still sap your strength. You also want to protect your younger members who cannot carry the heavy weight of higher capacity armour."

Dave and I nodded.

"We built it for a military contract, only this equipment was too expensive to go into production."

"Does it come in purple?" I asked with a grin.

"Yellow and green, too!"

"You do mail order?"

Fox laughed and nodded.

"I have something else to show you; it's new and untested, however I'm keen to test it in action and you guys seem to have a knack for being in the middle of violence."

* * *

 ** _Wayne Manor_**

Megan was trying to kill me again and I was exhausted, so we took a break.

"You're really good at this stuff!"

"Thanks, Bruce; you're getting better," Megan replied, colouring up slightly. "Slowly..."

I did like her smile, it was cute.

We sat down in the study, where some cold drinks had miraculously appeared on the table. While I was drinking mine, Megan got up and started walking around the room, looking at the books on the shelves. Every now and then she would pull a book form the shelf, flick through it and return it to its place.

"Looking for something in particular?"

"Just curious; I like books."

"You don't seem like the book type..."

"I don't really seem like the vigilante type, either; looks can be deceiving!"

I had to agree with that! Megan was short and thin, however, she had some nice feminine curves developing. To look at her with her shoulder length auburn hair and the hypnotic gun-metal blue eyes, you could be forgiven for thinking that she was just any other, normal, eleven-year-old girl. Only I knew better as she was Wildcat and that was just awesome!

Megan pulled another book off the shelves. It was an older book and as she flicked through it she suddenly stopped and I saw her frown. She turned the book towards me, showing the open pages; there was something embedded there.

"What is that?" I asked getting up and walking over towards Megan.

"A remote, hidden inside an old book!"

I took hold of the book and looked at it, then gently removed the remote from the neatly cut pages. The remote was modern, I just looked it over, but there was nothing printed on it. There was just a single button.

"You gonna press it or what?" Megan asked.

I shrugged.

"Okay!"

I pressed the button.

* * *

What the _hell_ is that music?

I followed the sound down the corridor and found myself at the study. I stood at the door and saw Master Bruce and the young Miss Megan standing side-by-side and staring fixedly at the fireplace.

"Something wrong with the fireplace, Master Bruce?" I asked, entering the room.

I turned to look at the fireplace and froze. The fireplace seemed to be moving backwards! The fireplace stopped and so did the music. Megan seemed worried enough that a small, purple SIG Sauer P232 pistol had appeared in her hands, seemingly from nowhere.

The three of us moved slowly towards the fireplace and the opening that now revealed a passageway to the right. There was a rough-hewn stone staircase that vanished steeply downwards. There were numerous lights, which illuminated the steps and they descended quite a distance.

"You chickens coming?" Megan demanded, placing her right foot on the first step down.

"After you, Miss Megan!" I suggested, keeping Bruce behind me.

I was aware that Wayne Manor dated back to times of smuggling and the movement of slaves to safety. The steps most probably dated back to those times, although they must have been updated at some stage with the electric lights that seemed to be quite a few years old. Now I thought back, that music was vaguely familiar. I had heard it some years previously, but nothing recently.

The music was obviously to disguise the noise of the fireplace moving.

* * *

I kept the muzzle of the pistol pointing downwards, towards the bottom of the steps.

We could have been walking into anything, so I was ready. Alfred was a few steps behind me and he was preventing Bruce from passing him. Alfred's job was to protect Bruce and my job was to protect them both.

We had gone down one hundred and eighty-four steps; I had counted each one knowing that I would have to climb each one back up again! The steps stopped and we could see a flat stone floor, but only by what light spilled out of the steps. I looked for a light switch but saw none. I could sense that I was standing in a large cavern of sorts and I could hear fluttering high above me.

"We need torches, if we're gonna be investigating anything further," Alfred said reasonably.

"Let's go tell the others what we've found," Bruce said and turned to the steps.

"We have a long climb ahead of us!" I warned, covering our backs as we climbed.

* * *

 ** _That afternoon_**

After Detective Gordon had left and after Megan's secret underground tunnels revelation, I had called everybody together and explained the problem.

"We have one option..." Marty said simply.

"...And that would be?" I asked.

"Obvious really, my dear Mindy!" Marty went on with a smirk. "We need to have you, Miss Macready, in the same place as Hit Girl!"

"I normally am in the same place as Hit Girl!" I growled, a little slow to catch on.

"Jeez, I thought you were supposed to be intelligent, Mindy!" Marty groaned. "That knock on the head must have done some damage!"

I scowled at Marty and felt my face warming up.

"I'll explain it to the dumb bitch!" Megan announced with a big smile as she turned to me. "Look, dumbass, we place you, as Mindy Macready, somewhere in Gotham where loads of people can see you and then we have somebody else, dressed as Hit Girl, be somewhere public, maybe even in the same place as you!"

"Oh, right – sorry!"

* * *

I met up with Chloe in the garden and we sat down to talk.

I felt awful about the way that I had treated her and I told her so. Chloe insisted that she was used to my behaviour, but that didn't cut it.

"I want to make it up to you, please!" I almost begged.

Then I saw Chloe smirk to herself. I had fallen into the trap!

"There is something that you could do..."

I grimaced and decided I had no choice.

"Does it involve me being naked?"

"You know, it does!" Chloe replied with a fiendish grin.

"Okay, Chloe. I owe you that. Tell Erika that I agree, with certain limits of course!"

"No limits, Mindy – no limits at all!" Chloe grinned.

I gave in.

* * *

 ** _The following day  
Thursday_**

 ** _The warehouse_**

"But why me?"

"Because you are approximately the right size and shape, Cat!" Bruce explained then paused. "Besides you look quite nice like that."

Selina blushed as Mindy helped her pull on the top part of the Hit Girl suit. She was already wearing the bottom half and the boots.

"Look, you'll have Shadow with you and Mist, so you will be perfectly safe, not to mention that nobody fucks with Hit Girl!" Mindy said, seeing that Selina was still unconvinced.

"You'll be wearing communications equipment and I'll be able to talk to you, okay? So will Shadow and Mist. You can move like I do, so use that. You only need to be visible for a few minutes."

"This shit is heavy!" Cat moaned.

"Tell me about it!"

* * *

 ** _Central Gotham_**

It was Marty's birthday, so we had the perfect excuse to be seen in public.

We took an Audi S8 with Dave driving. Megan said that she refused to ride in anything that _I_ was driving, considering that I had wrecked two vehicles in almost as many months! I could hear Cat still moaning over the comms; she was _not_ happy, although I was impressed with how she looked in my combat suit.

That in itself was strange as I had never really watched 'me', out and about. I decided that Cat would make a great vigilante, once she was properly trained and had learnt to follow orders.

Dave stopped outside a very public restaurant and we all went inside. I received several nods from those who recognised Dave and I. Marty and Megan completed our party. We were all wearing expensive clothing that befitted our feigned image. We ordered our food and chatted, while I listened in to Shadow and Mist preparing to leave Lucille, Jackal was in reserve, along with Trojan if anything went wrong.

Detective Gordon had 'accidentally' released a pair of criminals, just seconds before, which was part of the plan.

* * *

"What the hell, did you do that for?"

"Sorry, Harvey, shit happens!" Gordon said to his outraged partner as he picked himself up from the street.

"What... Oh... This ought to be good!" Harvey Bullock said with a grin.

Gordon looked up to see three vigilantes standing in the middle of the street. One wore dark blue, the next grey and light blue and the final one, purple. Both detectives instantly recognised Hit Girl and her co-vigilantes, Mist and Shadow.

"Could you imagine those three in bed," Bullock commented with a faraway look in his eyes.

"You are disgusting!" Gordon replied.

"You gotta have something to cheer you up in this shithole!"

The two criminals appeared to hesitate and then they separated, doing their utmost to avoid Hit Girl, who was obviously the most dangerous of the three vigilantes. Shadow ran forward and threw one criminal over her shoulder and the crowd yelled happily as the unfortunate man hit the blacktop hard with an audible crunch as something broke within his body. The criminal lay still, but he was screaming in pain.

The other man headed for Mist, while Hit Girl back-flipped into a position where if the criminal got past Mist, she would be in position to grab him. The criminal saw that and hesitated just long enough for Mist to throw him to the street, hard enough to make him yell out. The crowd loved it, yelled, and screamed their pleasure at the display before them.

Seconds later, it was over and the vigilantes appeared to vanish into thin air as cops appeared to seize the unfortunate criminals who were completely unaware of their part in protecting Fusion.

Mission complete.

* * *

"Is something happening out there?" Dave asked innocently as our food arrived.

"Just some nasty men being put down by Hit Girl and her team, sir," The Maître D explained.

"Shame we missed that!" I grinned, looking at Megan. "I would love to see Hit Girl in action, I hear she's quite a looker!"

"Not as lovely as you, Mindy," Dave said with a smirk as Megan rolled her eyes.

* * *

 ** _That afternoon_**

 ** _The warehouse_**

After lunch, we drove to the warehouse to check on the team.

"Thank you, Mindy!" Cat said as I climbed out of the Audi.

"Why? What have I done?" I asked.

"That was awesome; I cannot believe that I was just Hit Girl for just a few minutes... I felt awesome!" Cat exclaimed with an enormous grin on her face.

I grinned back.

"That's what it feels like to be a vigilante, Cat. You still want that life, or the one you have?" I asked.

"My life right now, is nothing; I want what you have. I have never felt so, awesome as I did at that moment, in your combat suit. I'll do anything you ask, I promise!"

"I hope I don't need to wash the suit out!" I grimaced and Cat blushed as she ran off to talk to Megan.

"She's like you on Christmas morning!" Dave commented with a grin.

"I'm not _that_ bad! Am I?" I asked, sounding a little worried.

* * *

 ** _That evening  
Below Wayne Manor_**

I stood with Bruce, Cat, Alfred, Megan and Dave, staring up and around us to the maximum extent of the flashlight beams.

"Nice place you have down here!" Dave commented as the odd bat flew through the beam.

"Creepy; I hate bats..." Bruce mentioned.

"Might be a good name for you: Bat Boy!" Megan laughed receiving a scowl from Bruce.

"This place has been here a while, maybe two hundred years," Alfred said.

We stood on an almost perfectly smooth area made from stone, which had been worn, smooth over the years by water and probably feet. The cave smelt a little damp and we could feel a cool breeze coming from our right. The steps up to The Manor were directly behind us. To the right was a large opening, almost three meters in height and width. To the left was an identical opening. Ahead were four smaller openings that headed deeper into the cave system. Above us, there was nothing but open air for dozens of feet before you reached a rocky ceiling studded with stalactites and roosting bats.

The open area was quite large and you could easily park several vehicles there. I wanted to find out if there was another entrance to the cavern system. The most obvious direction was the opening to our right from where a breeze originated. After walking for a little over a hundred metres, we came to a dead end.

On closer inspection the end was not rock, it was a very dirty and water streaked steel door that was painted black and brown. On the wall was a large steel cabinet. I turned the handle on the front and pulled open the door.

As I did so, lights came on above us, illuminating both the door and the cabinet.


	14. Escalation

**Author's Note:** _Please be warned that this chapter includes smut and behaviour that could be seen as indecent and salacious, including words or insinuations of a dubious, unseemly or suggestive nature!_

* * *

 ** _Thursday evening  
Below Wayne Manor_**

 _As I did so, lights came on above us, illuminating both the door and the cabinet._

"That's cool!" Megan commented.

Bruce came closer to the cabinet and looked at what was inside. There was a rather old looking flat panel display mounted vertically and a smaller flat panel mounted at a forty-five degree angle beneath it. Both bore the markings of Wayne Industries. I had a distinct feeling that Lucius Fox must have been involved here as the equipment would have been cutting-edge some years previously. Beside the panels was a digital telephone handset.

Both panels illuminated within a minute of the cabinet being opened. The upper panel showed a window that simply said:

 ** _IDENTIFICATION REQUIRED . . ._**

The smaller flat panel glowed a dull green and a grid appeared. I recognised it as being almost identical to what which we used in Safehouse F; it was a palm scanner. I turned to Bruce.

"Place your right hand on the scanner and hold it there," I said.

Bruce hesitated, not out of fear, but out of apprehension of what might happen. The boy gingerly reached out and placed his hand onto the panel. The green light glowed brighter, as his palm was scanned. Then there was a dull beep and the upper panel changed.

 ** _IDENTITY CONFIRMED . . ._**

 ** _BRUCE WAYNE . . ._**

 ** _ACCESS GRANTED_**

There was a dull clunk and then lights began to illuminate down the tunnel and all the way to the steps. Bruce removed his hand and looked at us all, then stopped on Alfred.

"It looks like your father added you to the system, knowing that you might one day find the place," Alfred said.

We all jumped as the phone rang. I reached out and grabbed it.

"Hello?" I asked tentatively.

"Ah, Miss Macready! Are you alone, or is Master Bruce with you?"

I turned to the others.

"It's Lucius Fox!"

I pressed the speaker button and replaced the handset.

"We're on speaker, Mr Fox," I said.

"I wondered when you might discover the Thunder Quarry cavern system. Your grandfather rebuilt the place after the quarry closed down in the late fifties. He converted it to a fallout shelter; it was one of the first special projects, I worked on, soon after joining Wayne Industries. Your father modernised it to some extent some years ago."

"Why didn't you tell us about it?" Bruce asked, sounding a little annoyed.

"Your father made me promise not to say anything until either he said so, or you discovered the place yourself. I suppose I had better come over and explain the place to you. Come to think of it, Miss Macready might find some uses for it, right now."

* * *

 ** _That evening_**

"I am _not_ looking forward to this!"

"You'll be fine, Mindy. You trust Chloe with your life, as she does you. The same goes for Erika."

"I'm still worried."

I was drying off after taking a shower and anticipating what the night would entail as I checked out my body. I pulled on a t-shirt and shorts, forgoing underwear, before grimacing at Dave.

"Go fuck 'em dead!" Dave grinned.

"Not funny!"

* * *

"My God!" Erika announced as Mindy entered the room and closed the door behind her. "I have never seen someone look _so_ scared!"

"Yeah, she's like a little bunny in the headlights!" I laughed wondering how far I could push Mindy before she snapped.

"I am not scared!" Mindy said quietly, but it was obvious that she was.

The almighty Hit Girl, who could fight off dozens of crazed killers simultaneously, was scared to death of what two naked girls might do to her! Mindy looked unhappily at Erika and me, we were both completely naked. I walked over and guided Mindy to the bed. Mindy had seen me naked before, but not Erika and I knew that apart from me and Dave, nobody else had seen Mindy naked, either.

"Just stand there," I said soothingly, stopping Mindy at the foot of the bed. "Close your eyes and breathe steadily, as if you were lining up a sniper shot."

* * *

I grinned.

Trust Chloe to pick a gun analogy to put me at ease and it worked, too! I breathed steadily a dozen times and then I braced up as I felt a soft hand, Chloe's, on my neck which continued down my right shoulder and then down my arm to my hand. I felt two more hands, Erika's, on my bare legs as they moved steadily upwards to my thighs.

I concentrated on my steady breathing, keeping my eyes shut and telling myself to enjoy what was happening to me; I had willpower, tons of it, so I was going to use it! The first hand was soon joined by another as they moved under my t-shirt and ran across my stomach, causing me to tense slightly. They then moved upwards and I instinctively took a deep breath as they touched the base of my breasts. The hands did not go any further, they reversed course and moved back downwards before I felt them taking hold of my t-shirt and I felt the cool air on my skin as the garment was pulled gently upwards and over my head. I now felt very exposed and my arms started to move to cover myself, only they were intercepted and Chloe whispered into my left ear.

"No, just let them hang at your sides. Trust me."

I followed her directions and allowed my arms to hang loosely. Chloe ran her hands across my stomach and up my sides, which made me grin as her hands tickled, just a little. Then came a surprise as the hands on my thighs took hold of the waistband of my shorts and pulled them down inch by seductive inch. Erika was a damn tease! I could now feel cool air on my pelvic region as my pubic hair was slowly exposed. Then Chloe ran her hand straight down my stomach and into my shorts.

I almost called out, but stopped myself as Chloe gently caressed my pubic hair and the soft skin between my legs. I felt wetness building and knew that Chloe would be able to feel it. That thought was faintly humiliating, but it also made me wetter! My shorts fell to the floor and I was completely naked. Chloe's hand was then replaced by one of Erika's as she checked me out. Chloe then moved her hands to my chest and gently rubbed my breasts being careful not to touch either nipple.

Now, I was very much in the mood! There was nothing to be scared of and I was ashamed for feeling afraid. Chloe gently guided me backwards until I felt the bed on the back of my legs.

"Lie down," Chloe said softly.

I opened my eyes and gazed up at Chloe as I lay down. I studied her chest and her breasts, which were very close in size to my own, despite there being almost three years difference in age. Chloe lay down beside me and I rolled onto my side, bending one knee as Chloe reached down and I felt her finger push gently inside me. I did the same to Chloe. I had no idea what to do, but tried to emulate what Dave's fingers did when he was inside me.

Chloe was very wet down below and she was also very warm. I felt Erika lie down behind me and her left arm reached over and started to caress my left nipple, which had my heart beating faster and faster. I was now positively dripping wet between my legs. Chloe was moaning as I moved my finger around and explored the area to the inside and upper front of her vagina. That was where Dave concentrated and it seemed I was right. Chloe was soon squirming and she closed her eyes, her breathing getting heavier and faster.

Then she pulled out of me and me her. We both lay back for a breath. Minutes later, I squealed as each breast was suddenly assaulted by a gently caressing tongue. Erika took a moment to, gently, blow across my nipple and damn, I shuddered with a moan thrown in for good measure. Erika grinned salaciously.

With practised ease, Erika teased my left nipple while Chloe seemed to be going full tilt with my other one. I felt desperately empty down below and gently caressed Erika and Chloe. It felt a little strange as I stroked Erika; she had no pubic hair and I had not felt something like that since before I started puberty. I could not decide which I preferred, the smoothness of Erika or the softness of Chloe's thick pubic hair.

I gently eased a finger inside each girl and heard two moans of pleasure as I caressed the parts Dave did for me. As I moved my finger around, the two girls started to go for my nipples with gusto and then Chloe reached down and started caressing the inside of me.

Then Chloe hit her limit; her legs were spread wide and she had rolled onto her back. I was fascinated; I had been through orgasms and I had heard Chloe go through her own orgasms, but I was fascinated by what I was watching. Chloe pulled her hand out of me and she balled her hands into fists and then her legs came together and she screamed as the orgasm hit, full blast. I had removed my own hand as her legs had come together.

Erika moved in and took over inside me with her own hand and I could feel that familiar feeling as my own orgasm continued to build and I was moaning and thrashing on the bed. Chloe had finished screaming and she was now looking down at me with a caring smile as I closed my eyes and fought through the sensations that rocketed through my body.

Then I screamed, letting all the pent up emotion out.

* * *

"Damn this is a turn on!"

"I never expected it to be, you know, but it's good!" Dave replied with a nod as he adjusted his trousers.

We were both in Dave and Mindy's room, listening to what was going on across the hall in Erika's room. It was quite novel, really, knowing that our girlfriends were fucking each other just yards away, with another female in attendance!

I was desperate to be able to watch, but when I had suggested it to Chloe, she had told me to go play with myself, or something similarly vulgar. She had also suggested that Dave and I could always experiment... That was _not_ going to happen! I had told Dave what Chloe had said and he had warned me in graphic terms what would happen to me if I dared appear naked in the same room as him, ever.

"What are you two doing?" Megan asked, peering in the open door.

"Listening..."

"To that racket... What are they doing, anyway?" Little Miss Inquisitive asked.

"Do you really want to know...?" I replied, letting it hang.

Megan thought about it for a moment and then she went as red as a beetroot and turned to stare at the door to Erika's room, just as a third scream erupted. That must have been Erika. I had already recognised Chloe's scream of ecstasy and Dave had confirmed Mindy's much louder one.

"You two are just as disgusting as them in there!" Megan growled as she tried to cover up her embarrassment.

"You want some advice, Megan?" I asked with a grin.

"Probably not..."

"Go find Curtis and let his fingers do some exploring; you obviously need it!" I said as the mortified young girl turned and stormed out of the room.

"She'll get you for that!" Dave warned.

"Not if Curtis does his job right; Megan will thank me. Now, I need a moment!" I said as I vanished into the bathroom for some urgently needed relief.

* * *

I was onto my second orgasm.

I hoped that Dave was not hearing our screams; it was slightly humiliating, but as Chloe had said I would, I was enjoying every fucking second! Do not get me wrong; I loved every second I spent naked with Dave, but this was different and there was no love in what the three of us were doing, except the love that friends feel for each other. I was not shy, or embarrassed about having Chloe and Erika exploring every inch of my body, both inside and out! I enjoyed doing the same to them; it was a learning experience.

I had felt around inside myself, once or twice, what girl had not? However, I had never bothered to actually get a mirror and look down there. Now I had two different examples to study, poke and prod at my leisure. Was I warped; of course, I was, I killed people, but being naked with Chloe and Erika was something different. The fact that we were all of the same sex meant nothing; we were enjoying ourselves.

My skin was damp with sweat and I felt like I had pissed myself, but as Erika pulled her head away from between my legs, I screamed as the sensations rocketed through me. I had never asked Dave what I tasted like down there, but for some reason I was keen to find out what Chloe tasted like! I had also found out why men liked breasts so much; Erika's were a lot of fun to play with and I enjoyed her squirming as I manipulated her pert, erect, nipples.

..._...

I stared across at Chloe as the three of us paused to rest for a few minutes.

"Thank you."

"Told you you'd enjoy it!"

"I have and it has been the most awesome thing I have ever experienced, except for Dave!" I said as I ran my hand across Chloe's compact chest.

"Of course!" Chloe laughed taking a deep breath as I touched her tender nipples.

"You aren't half bad for a fucking novice!" Erika commented.

"Thank you, Erika. You have added a new life experience to my collection. I have to say it is also one of the best experiences, right up there with when I first met Dave."

Both Chloe and Erika blushed at that comment.

"Thank you." I said as I gave each girl a kiss.

I took a deep breath and gently spread Chloe's legs. As I got closer, I started feeling more and more aroused. I gently teased the soft inside of Chloe's thighs and got a reaction as she moaned and moved her pelvic region around. I kissed each thigh, moving into her pubic hair and then away. I knew that it was a tease, but I was enjoying myself.

I gently kissed and then licked Chloe, dead centre and she started to buck and moan pitifully. I had her at my mercy.

"You go girl!" Erika encouraged.

I gently eased Chloe apart with my tongue and explored. She tasted... Interesting! Chloe was spreading her legs further to help me get in closer. She wanted it, so I was going to give it to her. I moved up to the top and gently probed with my tongue and Chloe's legs started to shudder as I continued my tongue movements.

* * *

"Don't stop, damn it!" Chloe called out. "Get in there, Mindy!"

Dave just sat there, his mouth wide open. Dave was mortified, almost as much as I was.

"Yes!" Chloe yelled out. "You are _so_ much better than Josh!"

It was my turn to sit there with my mouth open. The fucking bitch! A head peered around the door, the face was crimson, but she was grinning fit to burst.

"Not a fucking word, Megan, or I swear..."

Megan fled and I could hear her giggling as she ran down the passageway, just as Chloe screamed again. Dave just started laughing and I had to join him; it was laugh or cry!

* * *

"Fucking hell!"

I had never felt so satisfied in my life; Mindy's tongue was – wow! I was annoyed that my orgasm had stopped Mindy, and I wished that she could have continued but I was unable to take any more stimulation. The orgasm almost broke my damn back.

I was also desperate for a drink and I knew that Josh would be listening.

"Hey, dickhead!" I yelled loudly. "We need a drink!"

I then heard Josh's voice.

"You seem to be ingesting plenty of fluids from what I can hear," Josh called back and I just stared at the door open mouthed.

Mindy and Erika both started giggling!

* * *

 ** _The next morning  
Friday_**

I took a long shower; I needed it!

Dave had been asleep when I had crawled in next to him. I was so tired; I just gave him a kiss and fell straight to sleep. My dreams that night had been erotic to say the least!

At breakfast, nobody mentioned anything about what had gone on, although Megan spent the entire meal scowling and she completely ignored me.

"She'll get over it!" Josh commented loudly, with a wink at Dave who laughed and Megan blushed a pleasant shade of red.

Both Chloe and Erika had large springs in their steps that morning and I could detect a slight smirk on Selina's face.

"It's a bit quiet in here!" Alfred commented. "Your tongues must be a little worn out, I suppose!"

* * *

After breakfast, Megan grabbed my arm and dragged me out into the garden and then right down the far end, by the big fountain.

"You gonna kick the shit outta me again?" I asked.

"No, Cat. I need your help."

"Okay," I replied, a little surprised.

"Have you ever, this is difficult..." Megan began, blushing heavily. "Have you ever had a boy, you know..."

"Have I ever had sex?" I replied, a little startled by the question; I was only fourteen and Megan was eleven. "No, I have not had sex, but I have 'made out', if that's what you're asking."

"Has anybody ever touched...?"

I laughed at Megan's discomfort.

"Why are you asking me; I'm a stranger to you? What about your friends; Mindy, Chloe, Erika?"

"They'd just take the piss out of me; I hoped that you wouldn't..."

"Sorry, okay, to answer your question; yes, I have had a boy stick his hand down my knickers. I let him, as I had my hand down his pants at the time!" I admitted, feeling myself blush.

"What was it like – the boy touching you, I mean...?"

"I was very nervous and a little worried, but once his hand was down there, I liked it. He felt around a bit; it was his first cunt! Then his finger kind of slipped inside and, wow!"

"Wow?"

"I can't explain it, Megan; you'll just have to experience it yourself... It's worth the embarrassment of having a boy's hand down your knickers, though!"

"Okay, thanks..."

* * *

 ** _The following night  
Friday_**

 ** _Channel Park, Uptown_**

The fight was _not_ going well.

The unexpected had occurred.

Maroni and Falcone had temporarily joined forces against us and they were not fucking about in their attacks either. The eight of us were facing five times our number and they were armed with everything nasty that they could lay their hands on.

Had we walked into a trap? Not so much, we were in control and we had eyes. Both Battle Guy and Hal were observing everything from Lucille to ensure that we were not stabbed in the back, quite literally.

The men we were fighting were very good at their jobs and many of them sported some form of body armour, be it a stab vest or something heavier such as what Kick-Ass wore. Automatic weapons were also in evidence, including large calibre Russian AK-series assault rifles. We had come up against those in Chicago, and they could tear our combat suits to pieces in seconds, given half the chance. Only Jackal and Kick-Ass had armour heavy enough to deflect that kind of projectile.

The first thirty minutes were a steep learning curve as we figured out our adversaries. There were no injuries; just a lot of bruises and everybody was determined not to lose face when fighting jumped up idiots such as Maroni and Falcone's men.

Then we lost our overwatch support as Battle Guy yelled a warning from Lucille.

"Proximity alert on Lucille!" Battle Guy called.

I was too far away to be able to help, but I saw Kick-Ass running in their direction, bullets erupting from the muzzle of his G36K. Battle Guy and Hal had a routine to follow in case of a breach; they knew what to do.

I continued fighting.


	15. Where No Boy Has Gone Before

**_Friday night_**

 ** _Channel Park, Uptown_**

"Proximity alert on Lucille!" I called.

"Kick-Ass moving to you!"

The sensors had detected movement around Lucille and the cameras showed men surrounding us.

There was an explosion and Lucille lurched downwards at the rear as the axle was destroyed. We were both pulled on our masks. I was in my full, Battle Guy, combat suit while Hal was in her more limited black jumpsuit with dark grey body armour over the top and then her full face mask. We were both armed, and we both knew what needed to be done.

I opened a concealed panel and broke two seals before turning a large switch, first ninety-degrees to the left and then one-eighty-degrees back to the right before pushing it in. It was the worst moment of my life; I had just sealed Lucille's fate and it felt like I was killing my best pal.

There was banging coming from the side door as men tried to force it open. Some fell as bullets from Kick-Ass took them down. I seized a pair of G36C assault rifles and a pack with extra ammunition.

"Move!" I yelled at Hal as she scrambled out of the roof-mounted escape hatch and then jumped down to the ground.

Hal immediately turned and fired several rounds from her Glock 26 as two men came around Lucille; both fell dead. I fired several covering rounds with my Glock 17 as we both ran as fast as possible, towards some dumpsters and hopefully to cover.

"Fire in the hole, Lucille!" I yelled, to allow Fusion members to take cover.

I could not bear to watch as the command van exploded, but I did, its sides bulging out in every direction before being enveloped in searing flames as the thermate ignited, literally melting the entire van, along with the computers, weapons and anything that might identity Fusion.

Lucille was gone in minutes.

* * *

I knew that Marty would be sickened at having to destroy his beloved van, but that was life.

Both Battle Guy and Hal had called in and Kick-Ass had confirmed that they were both safe and uninjured. I knew, full well that Battle Guy would join the fight, if only to avenge his Lucille.

..._...

Over the next twenty minutes, the odds improved, from five to one, down to two to one.

I could tell that people were getting tired. However, they would never admit to it, but Wildcat was struggling and so were Trojan and Splinter. They had done well, although I could see that Wildcat was visibly limping. Mist was fighting strong, but I saw her make some small mistakes that I know would not have occurred had she been one hundred percent. Jackal and Shadow were doing well, as always, but they could not last forever. Kick-Ass, though, was fucking nuclear-powered and I knew full well, what his stamina was like! It was at times like that that I envied Kick-Ass and his ability to ignore most of the pain.

The communications circuit was very busy and Battle Guy and Hal were both doing their best to watch our backs from Titan, but their eyes could only be in so many places at once with the much more limited surveillance equipment available.

Then it happened...

* * *

Damn if I was not tired.

I was aching in many places, including places that I never knew I had, but I had to put the pain to one side; I was not about to let Hit Girl down. Wildcat was fighting beside me and I was aware that she had taken a strike to her left thigh and her knee, which was now causing her to limp. She was still wielding her claws very decisively, though.

As I fought, I met up with a face that I recognised from the other day and without a moment's hesitation, I kicked the man down to the ground. With Wildcat covering me, I then hissed into his ear.

"Remember me, cunt?" I growled, after turning off my electronic voice.

I saw that the man _did_ recognise my voice. I turned the voice modulator back on.

"You tried to kill me, you fucking bastard! Curtis could not kill you, but Trojan will!"

The man made to respond, but he could not as I slit the bastard's throat, almost severing his head from his neck. He was dead before he hit the ground. I stood up and with Wildcat, I dived back into the fight.

Then I felt something strike my chest armour and I went down on one knee, momentarily winded. Just as I made to stand up, I was struck again, this time in my lower-right side and I screamed as a reflex action to the shocking pain. Then something else hit me in my left shoulder and span me backwards before I felt a stinging sensation in my left thigh. I sank to both knees and I felt myself falling forwards.

Then I felt nothing as I sank into blackness.

* * *

I heard a yell from Wildcat and as I turned, I saw Trojan down on one knee.

Then I was stunned as I saw three bullets strike Trojan in rapid succession, two causing blood to fly away from his body. He screamed, sank to his knees and then fell forwards. As he lay on the ground, he was not moving; he made no effort to regain his feet.

"Wildcat, cover Trojan! Break! Trojan is down!" I called urgently over the communications circuit.

"Battle Guy is inbound with Titan!"

Battle Guy and Hal had hidden with the almost nine-thousand-kilogramme truck that was Titan. I watched as Wildcat moved to cover the fallen Trojan. Kick-Ass also moved back to provide additional cover with his heavier weapons and armour.

As Titan approached with a roar, Kick-Ass sent several smoke grenades soaring from the underslung AG36 grenade launcher of his G36K assault rifle.

"Motherfuckers!" I heard Shadow growl and saw both her and Jackal fight even harder as they cut down the fighters.

* * *

I had had enough; this was going to end.

As Titan stopped and the rear door was thrown open by Hal, I scooped up Trojan and placed him inside, pushing a reluctant Wildcat and Splinter after him. I reached in and seized hold of one of my favourite weapons before slamming the armoured door closed.

I pulled back on the charging handle and brought the massive weapon up to my shoulder. I gently caressed the trigger of the Heckler and Koch 121 machine gun and watched as men fell, torn apart by the 7.62-millimetre bullets. The bullets tore through any shelter or armour that the enemy were using. I advanced forwards, with Shadow to my left and Jackal to my right. I ignored the bullets that stung my chest and legs, even the pair of bullets that tore through the armour on my leg, leaving a red gash behind.

The adrenalin numbed any pain, which along with my nerve impediment made me almost invincible. The three of us were joined by Mist and Hit Girl as we advanced out of the swirling smoke. Men were starting to run away. They were dropped by Shadow and Jackal with their P90s as they monitored their parts of the battlefield. Mist and Hit Girl covered our flanks and rear.

Minutes later, we were finished and I had fired my last round.

* * *

With Lucille destroyed, we all piled into Titan and we drove towards the north side of Wayne Manor.

Titan thundered through the night. Curtis was stable for now, Erika and Chloe had stripped off his armour and had dressed the wounds. He would be okay until we got back to safety. We were not heading to the warehouse; we had a new destination in mind.

I just hoped that Titan would fit!

We passed through a set of gates, which opened as we pressed a newly installed remote control on the dashboard of Titan. We were now off the blacktop and driving over a rough road made up of coarsely crushed stone chippings. After a mile, we entered a wood and we twisted left and right through the trees before we stopped at a rusting steel door, which creaked open as we pressed a second button on the remote.

The next part of the journey was through a large warehouse, which was filled with rusting ore crushers and other machinery. It was a tight squeeze for Titan and we soon stopped again, only this time the door was already open. Alfred was standing in the enormous opening, beneath a large, very thick, steel door.

Marty gently eased Titan forwards and entered the rock tunnel. There was less than a foot of clearance on all sides. As we entered, the steel door slowly closed behind us. We stopped just long enough for Alfred to jump aboard.

Two minutes later Marty stopped at the bottom of the stone steps and cut the engine.

* * *

Curtis was cold and shaking as the shock of his wounds sunk in.

Dave, despite his own wounds and having only removed his mask, picked Curtis up and carried him up the one hundred and eighty-four steps to the study and from there to his bedroom. A scared and crying Megan hobbled along behind with Erika supporting her.

The bullet wound to the boy's right side was the worst, as the bullet was still in the wound, the others were through and throughs and we easily stopped the bleeding. Alfred was ready, with medical supplies in the bedroom. Alfred it seemed had some medical training from his time in the British Army. Erika helped Alfred to remove the bullet, which turned out to be of 7.62-millimetre calibre. Before long, the unconscious Curtis was tucked up in his own bed, with a distraught Megan and very worried Chloe watching over him.

I hated any member of Fusion being injured, but for it to be one of the younger kids – that was worse. Megan had to be forced to allow herself to be examined, as she did not want to be sidelined, and therefore let me down! The young girl was found to have a bruised left thigh and knee. We were now two down.

Gotham was turning out to be a very dangerous City, indeed!

* * *

Once back in our bedroom, I removed my armour and allowed Erika to clean and dress the wounds on my leg, just above the knee. I could feel the wounds, but not excessively and they were only flesh wounds; Curtis had much worse.

"Thanks, Erika. You get to bed."

"No problem, Dave!"

..._...

If it was going to be a bad night for Curtis, it was also going to be a very bad night for Mindy and not a great deal better one for myself.

We had hit another anniversary; it had been six years since Damon had died. Six years since Red Mist had shot at Mindy and sent her flying out of that window. Six years since that night when I had almost died.

Marty and Erika, having watched it live, had joined us for a few minutes before leaving Mindy and I alone with our thoughts.

* * *

I was with Chloe and we were heading back to our room when we passed the open door to Selina's room.

I froze.

 _'... This for all you cavemen out there... Is fire... Fire... Fire is good... Fire is our friend... Gentlemen... Time to die...'_

 _I knew exactly what was being watched. I gently eased the door open and saw Selina, Bruce, Tommy and Abby watching a video_ _on a laptop_ _. Nobody noticed me come in the room. We watched as the younger Mindy went into action, all the way to the end._

 _'… Shows over motherfuckers!'_

We both stayed silent, listening for how the kids might react.

"That was horrible..." Selina said first and I saw that she was crying.

"I never knew," Bruce added quietly.

"Shocking, isn't it?" I said and the kids span around in shock. "A bad way to see your father killed."

"Don't let Mindy see you watching it; she doesn't mind, but I know she hates it..." Chloe warned.

"It's been six years, tonight. You just saw Hit Girl at eleven-years-old and Dave when he first started as Kick-Ass. They were fighting Chris D'Amico as Red Mist, and his father, Frank. Any of you wonder why Mindy is the way she is? That video should help you with your answer."

I was pleased to see that the video had had a sobering experience on the kids. They all filed out to their own rooms.

"You okay, Cat?" Chloe asked as we were about to follow.

"I thought _my_ life was fucked up, but..."

"I know. I know." I replied.

* * *

As usual, I was raging, at least to begin with.

Firstly, that complete, traitorous, utter bastard, Red Mist conned Dave. Then I was shot, three fucking times. Next, my Daddy was kidnapped and then tortured to death, but not before I was able to kill them all and if not rescue him, I was at least able to speak with him that one last time... _'You are the kindest Daddy in the world. I love you too, Daddy. I love you too, Daddy. Sleep tight.'_

Dammit! I missed my Daddy so fucking much! Now, I dissolved into tears and hugged Dave. That night was tinged with happiness, though.

Dave.

The stubborn asshole had actually stayed to help me; he saved me twice and killed that bastard, Frank D'Amico. The thought of Kick-Ass with that fucking bazooka always made me smile! Then I had made the best decision of my life: I had told Dave my true identity. Now we were on the verge of marriage.

"You okay?" Dave asked, hugging me tightly, as I cried.

"Yeah, I have you! I'll always by okay when I have you!"

I hugged Dave tighter; I did not want to let him go, not now, not ever.

* * *

 ** _That same night_**

 ** _West Columbia, Chicago_**

It was good to be home, but the night sucked.

I was missing my daughters, both Mindy and Megan. I was also missing my partner, Damon Macready. I saw that night as if it was yesterday, watching it live had been torture. I had known exactly who was being beaten up by those fuckers. I had felt sorry for Kick-Ass too, the person I now knew as Dave Lizewski and the person who was to marry my daughter.

I missed Damon and I missed Kathleen. They had been my friends until that bastard Frank D'Amico had fucked things up. The only good thing to come out of all that shit had been Mindy. Then Damon had taken her away when she was five-years-old... Now Mindy was a force to be reckoned with and I was so unbelievably proud of her.

Paige was trying to help, but...

I raised the glass of beer and made a toast.

"To you Damon, the best damn partner a rookie Cop ever had," I said. "Damon wherever you are, you sorry son-of-a-bitch, please watch over that lunatic of a daughter of yours and make sure she comes back safely, along with my soon to be daughter, Megan, who it seems, is just as nuts!"

* * *

 ** _Gotham City_**

 ** _Wayne Manor_**

There was a knock on the door.

It was Chloe and Erika.

"We can't sleep and we're worried about you both," Chloe explained.

"We're okay," I replied, wiping away my tears. "Come and sit on the bed, I think we all need cheering up."

Dave nodded and Chloe sat down on the end of the bed with Erika.

"I'm going to regret telling this story, but it's funny and we all need laugh – at my expense, but never mind. Chloe, you asked about that mark on my ass?"

"I did."

Dave raised his eyebrows. He knew which mark I meant and it was a mark that could only be seen by somebody who had their head between my legs! I blushed, but continued.

"I was nine-years-old and I fucked things up. Big Daddy had told Hit Girl to stay still and not to move. Now, Hit Girl was a little skittish at that age and she could not sit still for more than a minute without fidgeting or squirming."

"She hasn't really changed..." Quipped Dave.

I laughed but went on.

"Big Daddy was hunting down two druggies and he was flushing them out. I knew the plan, but decided to adlib a bit and I tried to cut around some crates, but I slipped and as I got back up, I stuck my ass in the air and I heard a gunshot. Then my ass lit up like it was on fire!"

Chloe and Erika were smirking, along with Dave. I was feeling more than a little embarrassed.

"Daddy gave me fucking hell for it for weeks, although he saw the funny side when I had difficulty taking a piss! I, however, did not see the funny side, but Daddy said that the humiliation should help me remember to do as I was told in future!"

All three of the fuckers burst out laughing. I groaned – I knew they would. I ended up joining them as it _was_ funny, but I remembered the pain quite vividly!

 _I love you Daddy._

* * *

 ** _Very early the next morning  
Saturday_**

 ** _Wayne Manor_**

"This is kind of familiar!"

"Curtis!" Megan yelled before calming down. "Only it's you in the bed instead of me..."

"How am I?" I asked.

I could remember being shot, but nothing much else.

"Three holes in you. Erika and Alfred removed a bullet from your right side. You're gonna have a very sore shoulder, thigh and side, but you'll survive!"

"That sounds okay. I can feel the pain, though."

Megan looked like she had been crying. I remembered doing the same as she had laid in the Safehouse unconscious.

"I'll go wake Erika, she can then give you something."

Megan vanished. Minutes later, she returned with Erika in tow.

"Hi, kid, how you feeling?" Erika asked with a smile.

"It's sore," I replied, doing my best not to cry with the pain.

"Here, take these and try to sleep. I'll come and check you later this morning."

Erika handed Megan a glass of water and some tablets before leaving with a cheery smile. I took the glass and downed the two tablets, then laid back onto the pillow.

* * *

I did not remember falling asleep, but I must have, as it was light when I awoke.

Megan was sitting on her bed, watching me. This time she looked a lot better. She was smiling and had obviously showered as her hair was still damp and was up in a neat ponytail.

"What are you so happy about?" I asked the grinning girl.

"I have a surprise for you, this afternoon."

I groaned.

"Is this surprise going to get me in trouble?"

Megan grinned even more.

"I thought so!"

"Everybody is going out this afternoon, so we will be alone in the house..."

"That scares me!"

"Thanks, asshole!" Megan growled, but then she smiled.

Erika arrived a few minutes later.

"Megan, be useful and go ask Alfred for Curtis' breakfast!" She ordered and Megan reluctantly slunk off, knowing what she would be missing.

"You didn't have to send her off, you know," I said.

"You want her to see you naked?"

"She has before..."

"Oh, I see. I promise I didn't look!" Erika grinned.

I felt my face warming up.

"I'm going to check your dressings and then you will have some breakfast. After that you need to rest and stay in bed."

"I can do that!"

* * *

Megan was not happy when she returned and found me with a t-shirt and some underwear on.

Erika laughed at Megan as she left the room in disgust. Alfred appeared a few minutes later with an enormous breakfast. I commented on the size.

"A wounded man needs a good breakfast to build up his strength and help his body heal!" He replied genuinely.

"I can live with that, I suppose."

Mindy and Dave appeared while I was eating, as did Chloe and Josh. Chloe was worried about me, but she was pleased to see me eating. As they all left, Bruce, Cat and Tommy appeared with Marty and Abby.

The attention was cool, but the pain was not!

* * *

 ** _Beneath Wayne Manor_**

Bruce's face was bright red.

The reason? Chloe had just kissed him, full on the lips followed by a huge hug. Bruce had asked me if it was okay for him to get a replacement for Chloe's motorcycle. I saw no reason to say no, so I suggested a few models and Bruce said he would see what he could do.

Three days later, the machine was ready. How Bruce got a machine so quickly, I had no idea! It arrived in the custody of Fox. He brought it directly into the cave. It had a blue shell with a black frame and black wheels.

"Every panel is lined with a new super-lightweight Kevlar composite. The fuel tank is of an advanced self-sealing variety and the brakes have been uprated, not to mention I have fitted the other items that you suggested," Fox explained.

The machine was based on the 2015 Ducati Superbike 899 Panigale with 148 horsepower and 898cc capacity. The wheels were three-spoke as fitted to the similar 1299. The electronics had been uprated and the bike had built-in GPS, communications and concealed weapons stowage. Fox had also produced a replacement helmet for Chloe that matched her own damaged one, but this had an updated heads-up-display and communications setup inside the armoured shell. The motorcycle had hidden cameras that could transmit full-HD video, and audio, back to anywhere we desired.

Now Chloe was ready to piss herself with excitement as she stared at the brand new motorcycle that sparkled in the overhead lights.

"I wonder how long that one will last?" Josh quipped.

"Longer than your sex-life!" Chloe growled back as she picked up the helmet and examined it closely.

Josh came over and was about to touch the motorcycle.

"Touch it and you will be a eunuch, thirty seconds later."

Josh wisely stepped back.


	16. Preparations

**_That afternoon  
Saturday_**

 ** _Wayne Manor_**

We had The Manor to ourselves.

I closed and locked the door to our bedroom before placing a laptop in front of a rather confused Curtis.

"You're not supposed to have that," Curtis said looking at the laptop. "Marty will kill you.

"I acquired these two videos. One I was forbidden from watching; the other... Mindy doesn't know that I know about it, so I am not really breaking any rules."

"Not sure that will hold up in court, but..." Curtis laughed.

..._...

Ten minutes later, I knew exactly why Mindy had forbidden me from watching it. I looked at Curtis, who was horrified by what we had just seen. It was a DVD that had come from Mindy's 'Mathilda' folder and I thought it might just be some blood and gore; which it was, but it was worse, way worse!

The DVD showed Mathilda's apartment after her family had been brutally murdered. A cop was talking through the events as they had occurred. The shooter had used a shotgun.

First, the front door was blasted open, and then a woman was shot at in the hallway as she ran away, one of the daughters. The mother was killed in the bathtub. The daughter was shot in the back as she ran. A small boy, four-years-old, was cut down by a sub-machine gun as he ran. Then the father was shot in the back, magnum rounds, several times.

The bastards who shot the family had killed two kids, including the very young boy. I was stunned and ultimately I wished that I had never watched the damn DVD.

"Sorry, Curtis, I..."

"I know – you won't be pinching Mindy's DVDs again!"

"This one is supposed to be better – the label says: 'Chl/Eri/VelBea'. Could mean anything!"

The beginning of the DVD was a little boring, but then...

"Is that... Chloe... Erika...?"

"Yeah and they're kissing!" I said and my face was burning.

I fast-forwarded a bit further and then stopped, my mouth dropping open. Chloe was butt naked and so was Erika...! Curtis' eyes were as wide as the moon as he watched.

"We should _not_ be watching this, but at least there's no blood... Where is, err, Erika putting her fingers...? Oh...!" Curtis said, blushing wildly.

I was mesmerised. In my mind, what I was seeing was disgusting, but strangely, I liked it and there was a strange feeling in my stomach as I watched Chloe and Erika playing with each other. I had never seen anything like it before; no wonder Mindy kept had us younger kids out of that operation! The video ended and I turned to Curtis.

"That was, err, interesting," I commented and I could feel my face glowing like hot coals.

"Just a bit. Do girls enjoy having fingers up there?" Curtis asked.

"I don't know..." I said, blushing furiously. "But, we could find out…"

I had no idea why I said that!

"You mean..." Curtis was stunned.

"I'm game if you are; I trust you."

"You'll have to be careful, I'm wounded remember."

I had no idea where to start, but... I looked down at my clothes...

"Close your eyes..." I said to Curtis and he did.

Why I was concerned about Curtis seeing me naked, I had no idea; there really was not much to see! I quickly pulled off my clothes, including my bra and knickers. I carefully climbed in beside Curtis, so his right hand was on my stomach. Curtis opened his eyes and I felt his hand moving across my stomach and then to my chest. I tensed as his hand touched my very tender breasts. Curtis was blushing, but no worse than I was.

Cat was right; it _was_ embarrassing!

Curtis then slid his hand downwards and stopped as he reached what passed for my pubic hair, which was not very much, but a darn sight more than he had. Curtis explored between my legs and I started to feel a dampness and felt very worried. I took one of his fingers and guided him into me. We both tensed up at the same time. I felt his finger exploring inside me and touching places that I never knew existed, but that I very much enjoyed. Some places he touched did nothing, other places – wow!

It was just as Cat had said.

* * *

 ** _That evening_**

We had just arrived back at Wayne Manor.

"I'm gonna check on Curtis."

"Thanks, Erika," Mindy said.

The door was wide open, so I went in to find that Curtis was lying in bed gazing at the ceiling, while Megan was reading a magazine on her bed. Both kids looked guilty as hell, but I could not figure out why. I checked Curtis' dressings and noticed a damp patch on the sheet beside him. I looked over at Megan who was blushing as red as a tomato.

"I'll see you two later!" I said with a smirk.

* * *

I had a feeling Erika knew something, but I decided not to dwell on it!

The door flew open an hour later and Mindy came in, followed by both Chloe and Erika. All three looked very dangerous.

"Hi!" I tried, putting down my magazine.

Mindy ignored me. "Why?" She demanded angrily.

"Which one?" I asked, knowing we were busted.

"Let's start with the one I forbade you from watching, shall we?"

"I thought that it must be something cool, if we weren't allowed to watch it..."

"Shit reasoning..." Mindy said without a hint of humour in her voice. "I stopped you watching it for a damn good reason..."

"Yeah... You were right about that one!" I admitted.

Chloe stepped forwards and glared at Curtis, then me.

"You both watched the _other_ DVD?"

"Yes," Curtis and I said together, both blushing.

"Wait till Mom hears about this, Curtis!" Chloe growled.

"You invaded our privacy, Megan, and that is unforgiveable," Erika said angrily.

"Did you enjoy it, you little fuck?" Chloe said to her cousin.

That was a very loaded, trick question, I thought.

Curtis thought about it before responding.

"I'm dead either way, so yeah, I did..."

Chloe actually relaxed a bit and smirked. I saw a slight smirk appear on Erika's lips too. Curtis had given the right answer.

"What about you?" Chloe said turning on me, still angry.

Chloe scared me when she was angry; I knew she could be very nasty.

"Do I have to answer that?"

"Yes, you do, you fucking nosy little bitch!" Chloe growled and I flinched backwards.

"Yes, I did; I'm sorry I watched it. It horrified me, but I liked it..."

Chloe actually smiled.

"Megan and Curtis both got turned on seeing me cavort naked with Erika!" Chloe reasoned. "Not bad, I suppose."

Mindy was not buying any of it. I did not think I had ever made her so angry.

"If you weren't injured then I would have pulled you both from operations. For now, you stay in your room, except for meals," Mindy said just as angrily as earlier before looking directly at me. "And stay in your own damn bed, Megan!"

The three girls left the room and I felt like shit.

* * *

 ** _The following morning  
Sunday_**

 ** _Wayne Manor_**

I was still fuming about Megan and Curtis, so I never noticed Tommy coming towards me in the garden.

"Hi, Mindy!"

I turned and saw him for the first time.

"Hi, Tommy. What's up?"

"You know what day it is, right?"

I did. I nodded with a smile.

"You found me and gave me back my life, one year ago, today."

"I was very pleased to do it, Tommy. I'm glad you're safe."

Tommy smiled and gave me a big hug. I was pleased when something good came out of my shitty life. I also did not regret taking on Tommy and his parents. They were a Godsend.

"Thank you, Mindy."

Tommy ran off to find his friends.

* * *

 ** _Three days later  
Wednesday_**

 ** _Beneath Wayne Manor_**

The cave beneath Wayne Manor was now proving very useful.

Alongside Titan, sat Iron Hide and a pair of the Audi S8 sedans. All the Fusion motorcycles, including Chloe's brand new Ducati, were lined up to one side, out of the way. Mia was parked off to one side and Marty was busy with some upgrades. I had also noticed a small grey symbol on the side of MIA. It was a van and underneath were the words: RIP, Lucille! I had promised Marty a brand new van when we got back to Chicago.

Almost all of our equipment was now below Wayne Manor and I knew that it would be very safe. It also gave me some ideas for the future and the futures of both Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle.

* * *

One thing about Maroni and Falcone; we had to keep up the pressure on them.

They knew that they had wounded two of our number, but I was not going to allow them to think that wounded members would slow us down. I had planned a fun evening, for us at least!

* * *

 ** _That afternoon_**

"Mindy?"

I turned and saw Megan.

"What do _you_ want?"

"I need to talk to my sister," the young girl stated, looking very uncomfortable.

"Why would I want to listen to you?" I retorted.

"Please, I've said I'm sorry and I meant it!"

I could tell that Megan was serious, so I decided to stop being a bitch. I had already forgiven her for watching the DVDs; she was curious and I could tell that Mathilda's DVD had shocked her to the core. Mind you, so had the other one!

I saw the girl was still favouring her injured leg, so we found a corner of the garden and sat down in private.

"Mindy... I need some advice... on boys!"

Oh, fuck! Erika had said that she was certain something had gone on in Curtis' bed, just not what.

"I do not have all that much experience of boys, Megan, you know that."

"How old were you when a boy first touched you – naked."

Ah, ha!

"I was fifteen."

"Dave?" Megan asked.

"Yeah."

"Did you enjoy it?"

I did not like where the conversation was going; I was blushing too!

"Okay, you and Curtis are experimenting, just... Oh, fuck!" I took a deep breath before continuing. "Don't rush into things Megan, just take things slowly and stick nothing more than a finger up there!"

Megan looked mortified, which meant she had taken in what I had said. I was feeling just as mortified; I hated 'sex' conversations.

"Thanks, big sis!" Megan said with a big smile as her face started to return to its normal hue.

"How's the leg?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Sore, but Erika says if she straps it up, I can still fight."

"After watching that DVD, Erika might just cut it off!" I grinned.

"I apologised to both Erika _and_ Chloe. Chloe says she's gonna make me pay – not sure if she's just fuckin' with me or not."

"It's Chloe... Anything's possible!" I laughed as Megan grimaced; Chloe could be evil.

"Rest your leg and I'll let you know. Give it another day or two, okay?"

"Okay. One thing I've been meaning to ask..."

"Go on..."

"What were you doing that was ' _so_ much better than Josh'? Also, what were you putting in, where?"

My mouth dropped open and now I really _was_ mortified!

"I'm leaving..." I said, getting up and walking away as fast as I could.

* * *

 ** _That night_**

It was time to fuck with Maroni and Falcone.

The three of us were in our combat suits and ready to wreak havoc on the criminals of Gotham! I was on my 1199 Panigale, Shadow was on her new 899 Panigale and Mist was on her Streetfighter 848. In reserve were the boys: Jackal on his Ninja ZX-10R and Kick-Ass on his Diavel Carbon. They would patrol several blocks from us, but they would come if needed.

We began by accelerating out of the cave and through the Palisades, towards Gotham. We roared over Queens Bridge and into West Village. Maroni's car was outside his place on West Bank Street. As soon as we had turned into the street, the men protecting Maroni had seen us, as was intended. Shadow went first, accelerating and as she ignored the oncoming bullets, she threw out a pair of cylindrical objects at two of the men.

"Catch!"

The dense pilchards caught them, just as the smoke grenades ignited. Plumes of blue smoke erupted out, covering Mist's approach as she smashed the glass on the car and dropped in a pair of phosphorus grenades. She accelerated away, immediately! Seconds later the two grenades exploded and the car began to smoke and spark and pop as the phosphorus burned.

..._...

Our next stop was Fish's place.

This was to be a friendlier and slightly less violent visit. We parked outside and dismounted from our machines, leaving our helmets on the seats. There was a very scared looking bouncer at the door.

"Are we dressed correctly?" I demanded.

"Err, yeah, of course!" The bouncer stuttered, keeping his hands in view, as he moved out of the way.

* * *

The bouncer waved to another man and they both started to move towards the three top-end motorcycles.

Before they made it six feet, there was the sound of a pump-action shotgun being brought into action and a warped voice boomed out from the shadows.

"You want to live; walk away!"

The bouncer looked over into the shadows where an enormous green and yellow form emerged from the darkness, a large Remington shotgun in his hands and aimed at the bouncer's mid-section. The bouncer took less than a second to come to a decision and moved away from the motorcycles. He was joined by his pal.

"Not so stupid are they?" Another electronically altered voice boomed.

The bouncer turned and almost jumped out of his skin at the sight of the hideous form that gazed in his direction. It was the vigilante that he had been told about, Jackal. He was rumoured to be very dangerous, as was the other one, Kick-Ass.

There was a large crashing sound from within the club.

"Girls seem to be enjoying themselves," Jackal commented conversationally.

* * *

On entering the club, Butch appeared and pulled his pistol.

The Taurus PT92, nine-millimetre, stainless steel pistol exploded into life. No challenge, just action. I liked that man, but he had to go down, only tonight, we were maiming, not killing. Mist took two bullets before striking out with her chain whip and smashing the pistol out of Butch's hands. He screamed as blood flew from his torn left hand.

More men appeared, some armed with baseball bats, one with a vicious looking, machete. Despite the bullet that had struck my armour, I raised my compound bow and fired off three arrows in quick succession. I caught one man in his left shoulder, the next man in his left thigh and another man in his left leg – left just seemed good at the time!

There was no time to fire off another arrow as the men closed. I smashed the bow into the closest man's face, breaking his nose and sending blood flying. The next man received the boy around his neck and I pulled him down until his forehead met the bar at speed, he bounced and crashed to the floor, out cold.

* * *

Mist took the first bullets, but she was braced for them and rapidly disarmed Butch.

I ran forward diving over the bar and driving my fist into the barman's stomach to keep him down. I glanced up and saw a shape dive behind the bar. I smiled as I advanced. The man, not too sure, if he was a man, but anyway, the man saw me and flinched backwards.

"Please, no, I don't want to fight, Hit Girl!" Penguin begged, squirming on the floor.

I felt sickened and resorted to a kick to the face that laid the freak out.

* * *

While Hit Girl was playing behind the bar, I ran forwards and collared Fish.

That bitch was feisty and I felt myself getting aroused as Fish fought back with an elbow to my mask.

"Behave, Fishy!" I growled into her ear.

"Fuck that!" Fish replied as she rammed her elbow into my armoured gut.

I had had enough so pulled a Sai from my thigh, reversed it and brought it down on the side of Fish's head. She dropped like a stone. Next came some men! Although in hindsight, Fish fought better, I thought, as I used my two Sai swords to put the three men down without injury.

There was nobody left standing as I turned to examine the club. Hit Girl was standing with Shadow and both seemed pleased with themselves.

It was time to leave.

* * *

"Welcome good ladies!"

I turned as I walked out of the door, which was held open by Kick-Ass.

"Your chariots await!" Jackal announced as he waved us on.

"Fucking show offs!" Shadow growled.

"We live to serve!" Jackal replied.

"Dick!" Shadow added as she mounted her Panigale.

"See ya!" I said as I started the engine of my purple Panigale and pulled on my helmet.

Mist said nothing, but just shook her head.

* * *

Dave always enjoyed being an ass!

I loved it and I knew Chloe enjoyed it when Josh behaved like a prize pilchard, too! We headed south, towards South Point and then onto the Starr Bridge.

We saw criminals, but just our appearance was enough for them to slink back into the shadows.

* * *

 ** _Gotham Police Headquarters_**

"Ha! What happened to you, two!"

Bullock smirked at the two mud-soaked Cops.

"Fucking Kick-Ass and that Jackal!" One moaned.

"What did you do to piss them off?" Bullock asked.

"I tried to arrest them," The other Cop explained. "The both just dug their rear tyres in and emptied a damn puddle over us!"

"Good try – we really must catch those vigilantes!" Bullock said feigning interest and opening a bag of chips. "Right after I finish this bag of chips and maybe a few more. Even better, let us leave it until March!"


	17. Almost The End

**_The following morning  
Thursday_**

 ** _Wayne Manor_**

Marty had a possible lead.

It was a man called Ed Jamieson. He worked for Maroni and Marty had found out that Jamieson had been talking to Detective Gordon. That was good; we had somebody with a conscience. Gordon had explained that the man had a family and wanted out, so he was making a deal. There was a catch; Marty also found out that Maroni was possibly on Jamieson's trail.

With that in mind, Dave and I went to see Jamieson that evening, after dark.

* * *

 ** _That Evening_**

 ** _Upper West Hill, Downtown_**

The house sucked.

It had obviously not been painted in decades and I had no idea what was actually holding it up. However, it was not alone. The entire street was the same. For cover, we had parked the Audi a few blocks over, we were wearing dark clothes, and we were both armed.

"Ready?" Dave asked.

"Yes."

We climbed up the wooden steps and Dave knocked on the door. I could hear kids inside laughing. The door opened just a crack and a man peered out.

"Who are you?" the man asked cautiously.

I smiled as I responded.

"I am Mindy and this is Dave. Detective Gordon sent us."

The man looked us both, up and down. Then he eased open the door. We followed the man inside and Dave closed the door behind him. We turned right into the living room. Two young kids, a boy and a girl, were playing in one corner.

The man waved us to a couch and he himself sat in a chair.

"Ed Jamieson," the man said, introducing himself.

"You know why we are here?" Dave asked, getting to the point.

"I do; I'm in deep and I'm certain Maroni knows I've shit on him."

"Yeah. We need you to help us take him down," I said.

The man hesitated and looked over at his kids before responding.

"I was told that you would get me and my family out of Gotham."

"You have our word, Mr Jamieson," I replied, looking over at the kids.

"I want you to promise me something..." Ed Jamieson began, following my gaze. "If anything should happen to me... They are only seven-years-old and they have nobody else... I can sense when people are good and I can see that you both respect each other... If anything happens to me, I want you to see that they are looked after... Please, promise me..."

The man appeared desperate and he was certain that things were not going to end well. I looked at Dave, who nodded.

"You have our word, Ed. Anything happens to you, your kids will be looked after and taken far away from Gotham," I confirmed.

Ed nodded and called his kids over.

"Dave, Mindy. These are my children, Anne-Marie and Daniel."

Ed turned to his children.

"If I'm late back one evening, Dave and Mindy will look after you, understand?"

They were only seven-years-old, so obviously they did not, however they responded dutifully.

"Yes, Daddy."

"You do anything and everything that they ask of you and you will both obey them, without question, understand?"

The twins were now looking a little worried, but again they replied in the affirmative.

"Yes, Daddy."

"Go play..."

The two kids ran off eagerly and back to their games.

"They're a lovely pair of kids, Ed," Dave commented.

"Thanks; they're all I have left. Their mother died a year ago; a victim of this _fucking_ city!" Ed growled.

"Now, let's talk about Maroni..." I said.

* * *

 ** _Two nights later  
Saturday_**

 ** _South Palisades_**

They advanced through the almost total darkness.

Four in line abreast, with two more behind. The two in the centre were slim and one held an FN P90 PDW, while the other had a Heckler and Koch MP7 PDW to her shoulder. The outer pair were shorter, but both carried the same MP7 PDWs. Behind them came two, larger forms, one of whom held an FN P90 PDW, while the other, larger form, a much larger Heckler and Koch G36K assault rifle.

All six wore advanced low-profile night-vision goggles on their heads. They moved silently and all their weapons were suppressed. Each time a target was detected; a single, suppressed bullet flew through the air and dropped the target as silently as possible.

Every one of the watchdogs went down before they could fire a shot or call a warning; the assault team was relentless as they advanced through the outer gardens. Next four attack dogs came silently out of the darkness. The animals had all received a ventriculocordectomy, which meant that they could not announce their arrival when attacking. The team had come prepared and two of them possessed thermal detection capability, which allowed them to detect the approaching threats and then either take them out or direct another member. The dogs were readily visible in the head-up display of the AN/PVS-21 LPNVG system.

"Wildcat, canine, zero-four-three, low!"

The outer most vigilante on the right turned in the direction as indicated by her head-up display and lowered the muzzle, just as a dog flew through the air towards her throat. Six suppressed rounds were fired, shredding the animal's chest cavity and the carcass was easily dodged as it hit the grass.

"Target!" Wildcat called, signalling that the dog had been destroyed.

"Splinter, canine, zero-two-one, airborne! Break! Hit Girl, canine, three-three-one, advancing!" Kick-Ass called in rapid succession.

"Target!" Splinter called as his dog was destroyed in flight by two three-round bursts.

"Target!" Hit girl called as her dog fell prone as it approached.

"Canine down!" Jackal called as he monitored a dog in his own head-up display as it skilfully closed from the rear and dropped it with a single shot to the head.

Communication was kept to a minimum but the team needed to maintain situational awareness. Additional information was fed to their head-up displays by Battle Guy and Hal in Mia. This included high-definition, light intensified images from a telephoto camera mounted high on the surveillance vehicle.

"Fusion, route is clear for sixty metres!" Hal called.

A thumbs-up signal was seen in each NVG, acknowledging the command, as the images were broadcast live back to Mia. Team members took a moment to change out magazines and take a breather before the main action began. Outside Mia, Mist was patrolling to keep the van secure; once Mia was gone, they had no more command vans, not since having lost Lucille.

* * *

The house was up above the approaching vigilantes, framed against the night sky.

Targets were waiting for them and they could be seen via the image that Battle Guy was sending over the head-up displays. At least twenty men.

"Fire in the hole!" Kick-Ass yelled and fired off a forty-millimetre grenade and rapidly reloading another into the underslung AG-36 grenade launcher.

Four grenades were fired along a horizontal line. The high-explosive grenades landed one after the other, maiming and killing any man within range of the lethal fragments. That was the signal for Fusion to drive in to finish the attack. The six vigilantes broke their formation and ran up the steep grass bank and stone steps shooting at anything that moved, or seemed to move.

There was complete pandemonium, as men died left and right. The vigilantes dumped magazines and reloaded ensuring everyman was dead before they regrouped outside the main house. Surprise was gone, but they had made it to the objective relatively unscathed. At that moment, windows shattered and machine-gun fire erupted out of the mansion, but missing Fusion.

Then came the grenades.

Everybody dived for cover as lethal, white hot metal fragments span through the air. Once the explosions had faded it was time to check on the team.

"Fusion, report!" Kick-Ass called.

"Hit-Girl, ready."

"Shadow, ready."

"Jackal bruised, but ready."

"Splinter, ready."

"Wildcat... Damn my leg is sore, but ready."

"Wildcat, can you continue?" Kick-Ass demanded.

"As long as I don't have to run too much; I can still shoot!" Wildcat replied, desperate to continue, but being honest about her status.

"Shadow, stick with Wildcat – any problems, you get her out of here," Kick-Ass ordered.

"Shadow copies!"

Shadow moved over to the hurt Wildcat and put herself between Wildcat and the enemy. Wildcat should not have been there, but her skills were required.

Kick-Ass signalled for everybody to get ready to move.

* * *

We moved as a team, as we smashed through the windows and entered the building.

There were shouts and screams as bullets flew in all directions. I ran towards a door out of the large dining room, kicking aside chairs and bodies. I saw a face that I recognised running out a door.

Penguin!

He would no doubt be running to be with Maroni for better protection. Thank you, Penguin! I ran after him, smashing a man in the face with my fist and seeing blood spray across the immaculate walls. Bullets struck my armour, but went no further. I was a Terminator; nothing was going to stop me!

I vanished out the door.

* * *

I saw Kick-Ass vanish out of a door and ran after him.

The MP7A1 was a perfect weapon for close quarters fighting and I used the weapon to devastating effect. Our weapons had a fore grip and a six-inch suppressor fitted to the muzzle. I carried one, as did Splinter and Wildcat.

I worried about my little sister; she had insisted that she should come, as we were short-handed. Erika had strapped up her knee and the girl could run, but she was pushing herself too much. I could hear Dave saying, 'just like you'! At least Shadow would protect her, if anything happened.

As I left the dining room, I found myself in a passageway and I saw Kick-Ass kick down a door in pursuit of somebody; God it turned me on seeing him move around like a damn tank or a T-800!

"Hit Girl, behind you!"

I span around just as a man swung a large machete towards me, but he stopped, as a knife suddenly appeared entering one side of his throat and sticking out of the other. I watched as Wildcat rolled into the passageway and yanked back on the rope dart, pulling the knife out of the man's throat as he fell, dead. That bitch was stealing all my tricks!

Men appeared from doorways and started to move down the passageway towards us just as Shadow appeared. Wildcat drew her SIG and started shooting. I followed suit with my Glock as Shadow drew her FN pistol.

Men fell as bullets flew in both directions. I was struck several times, as were both of my partners, however, when we reached the end of the corridor, all the men were dead.

"Messy cunts!" Jackal complained as he walked through the dead men.

"Fuck you, Jack!" Wildcat replied with a raised finger.

I almost laughed, but I turned and ran after Kick-Ass.

* * *

"You okay?" Jackal asked Wildcat.

The girl hesitated and her shoulders slumped in defeat.

"No, I'm not...," Wildcat said quietly. "I'm sorry..."

"Shadow, get her out of here," Jackal directed, resting his hand on Wildcat's shoulder to reassure her.

Surprisingly, Wildcat just nodded and started to hobble back towards the dining room. I escorted her into the room, just as Splinter appeared.

"Where did Hit Girl go?" He asked.

"Upstairs," I confirmed and Splinter vanished after Jackal.

* * *

I was engaged in a firefight on the second floor when Hit Girl came up behind me.

"Come to join the fun?" I asked.

"Bit boring downstairs!" Hit Girl replied.

"I followed that Penguin – I saw him go into that room, behind the men. I also saw Maroni!"

"Let's move then!"

I saw Splinter appear behind Hit Girl.

"The more the merrier!"

* * *

What the fuck was I going to do!

They were literally feet from me and most of my men were dead. I was going to die tonight; I could just feel it and that fucker, Penguin, had probably just led them to me!

"Can we make it out of here?" I demanded.

"I think so, Boss. Reinforcements will be here in minutes."

Salvatore Maroni was not dying here tonight – I would escape and get my revenge.

* * *

 ** _Overwatch position_**

"Fuck!"

I turned as I heard Mist yell out. I swung the surveillance camera to where she was pointing and saw several SUVs moving at speed towards the house. There must have been at least forty men in the vehicles. I turned back to the computer and triggered my microphone.

"Fusion! Reinforcements inbound, we're bugging out!" I called over the comms. "Approximately forty inbound."

Mist slammed the side door of the van and I scrambled into the driver's seat. Hal stayed at the monitors, watching the reinforcements. I saw Mist dive over the brick wall with her P90 PDW; she was alone, but unexpected.

I slammed Mia into gear and dived down a side road, heading back towards Wayne Manor. Mindy had given express orders not to risk Mia or our lives.

* * *

 ** _The garden_**

I heard the warning over the comms, as we all had, and I pushed Wildcat out into the garden and partly carried her beyond the lights of the house and into the darkness.

I worried about the rest of the team, but I had to protect Wildcat, who was unable to run. Then I froze as my NVGs revealed men running up through the garden, along our escape route. I shoved Wildcat under some bushes and she prepared her MP7, ready for action.

"Fusion! More reinforcements coming in from direction of primary escape route, approximately thirty."

I heard another call over the comms.

"Mist is shadowing the second reinforcement team. I'm gonna take some down."

I checked to see that Wildcat was aware of a friendly in amongst the advancing enemy before I lay down beside her and readied my own weapon.

* * *

 ** _The house_**

I heard the radio call and knew we needed to move and fast.

I pulled around my compound bow and notched a special arrow. The target was the wooden door to the room in which Maroni was hiding. I stood, aimed and gently released the bowstring. The arrow flew straight and true into the door, a second later it exploded blowing the door apart. Next, I selected and released a different arrow, which exploded with a bright flash and a loud, crashing bang inside the room.

It was now time to leave.

* * *

 ** _The garden_**

I was just three yards from the rear-most man as I drew my Sais and attacked, driving both into the man, one to the neck and the other to his heart.

I forced the man to the ground, pulling out both Sais. Nobody had seen him fall as I moved onto the next man and then the next and the next.

"Mist has four down!" I called, heading for number five.

* * *

I nudged Wildcat and we both took aim.

I squeezed off my first round, just as Wildcat was doing the same. Two men dropped to the ground, followed by two more and then another pair fell as the rest of the men dived for cover. They had no idea where we were, so were randomly shooting in different directions. I could see one person still standing, Mist.

I watched as she moved through the darkness and drove her Sais into man after man, as they lay prone in the darkness, concentrating on the unseen shooters.

Mist truly was a maiden of death as she moved.

* * *

 ** _The house_**

The place erupted as men poured through the entrances to the house and started to move from room to room.

Kick-Ass, Jackal, Splinter and I watched as we were forced to move away from Maroni and to safety. The odds were far too bad and we were now short on ammunition. I was not taking risks with my team; two were down already and I was not losing anymore.

We found our way out of the house, killing three men silently with blades. There was a major firefight going on in the gardens and from what I could tell, Mist, Shadow and Wildcat were winning. If it had not been for them then we might have walked straight into a trap. I just hoped that Iron Hide was where we had left it, now that Mia had left the area.

..._...

The firefight was almost over by the time we arrived. We helped to mop up and then joined up with the girls. Kick-Ass picked up Wildcat and we ran towards the far end of the gardens. We left the gardens the same way we had entered, over the wall, and all six of us headed the eighty yards to where we had left Iron Hide hidden.

..._...

Iron Hide was not alone!

I could see an SUV parked, blocking the side road. I approached and found it empty, I could see Iron Hide a few yards ahead and then I saw movement and recognised Battle Guy who was aiming a G36C at the heads of two men who lay prone on the ground. Hal was standing beside Iron Hide, her own pistol aimed in our direction.

"We thought we should guard Iron Hide until you returned; we were right!" Battle Guy explained.

"Mia?"

"Twenty yards over there!" Hal pointed.

I was slightly mad at them for disobeying my order, but they had saved Iron Hide! We wasted no time in mounting up and we led the way, with Mia immediately behind. We left two dead bodies and a burning SUV.

The night had not gone according to plan, but at least Maroni was now shitting himself along with his pet Penguin.


	18. The Final Act

**_The same night  
Saturday_**

We must have touched a nerve!

I had a feeling that Maroni disliked us fucking up his home. My cell rang; it was Fox.

"Bit busy!" I commented.

"You're going to be!" Fox replied, coolly.

"Go on..."

"There is some serious activity on the main road approaching The Palisades – I think they are Eastern Europeans and that woman, Fish, is in control of them. Falcone's men are also out."

"Oh, fuck!"

"Precisely!"

"Any ideas?"

"Take the Chelsea Tunnel; it's clear of trouble..."

"How would you know that?"

"Trust me!" Fox chuckled. "Take the Midtown Bridge and you will find a convenient warehouse on Cale Street; I'll be there..."

With that, Fox dropped the call.

"Kick-Ass, Battle Guy, do a one-eighty, and head for the tunnel!" I ordered.

Kick-Ass did not query my command but just slammed on the brakes and cranked the wheel over as he slewed the large armoured pickup into a turn. I looked behind and saw Battle Guy slam on Mia's brakes, fifty yards away and skid the command van around.

..._...

Ten minutes later, we shot through Chelsea Tunnel at speed. The tunnel was indeed very clear, but I felt a little naked in the bright lights. We continued along Kennedy Street before running a red light and driving over Midtown Bridge. A quick left turn after the bridge and we found ourselves on Cale Street.

My cell rang again.

"Hard left in one hundred yards..., fifty..., twenty..., turn now!"

I repeated the commands to Kick-Ass as they came through. He cranked the wheel hard over again, and Iron Hide vanished inside a dark warehouse, followed closely by Mia. A steel shutter clattered down and then lights came on. There, standing in front of us was a smiling Lucius Fox.

..._...

I dismounted from Iron Hide and went over to Fox.

"What the hell is going on?" I demanded.

"You have really poked the damn hornet's nest and the hornets are raging!" Fox said seriously.

"Yeah, I tend to do that."

"Tell me about it!" Kick-Ass added as he came over.

"We need to dissuade Fish and Falcone. Fox can you take Wildcat back to the Manor; she's injured," I said quickly, and then a thought occurred to me. "Don't suppose you have any...?"

Fox grinned as he pulled a cover off a pile of nearby crates.

"Nine-millimetre here, 5.56-millimetre over there and 4.6-millimetre next to it!" Fox announced with a flourish, having correctly identified the calibres of all our weapons. "We keep plenty of ammunition on hand for experiments and, err, other things..."

"Load up!" I ordered and everybody jumped out of the vehicles and started attacking the boxes.

* * *

"I'm sorry, Megan, but you need to get back to the Manor."

The girl hung her head in shame and I could see tears in her eyes. I pulled her behind a pile of boxes, out of the sight of the others.

"You've done everything you can tonight; you're not letting me or anybody else down. You are hurt, okay. It happens; even to me!"

"I know, but I just _feel_ like I'm letting you down, badly and I hate it."

The girl was freely crying now. I hugged her until she stopped crying.

"I have to go..., and so do you."

"Stay safe!" Megan said, with concern in her voice, as she pulled her mask back on.

* * *

This would be a fast hit and run.

Mist would drive Iron Hide, with Jackal beside her and Splinter in behind. Shadow and I would be riding our Panigale motorcycles that had been mounted on the back of Iron Hide. Kick-Ass would be riding in the flat bed of Iron Hide.

The baseplate had been fitted the other day by Fox and we now spent forty minutes fitting the tripod mount and finally Kick-Ass' new friend; the M134D-H Hybrid Gatling Gun with a pair of 3,000-round capacity, ammunition magazines. The weapon was fitted with a flash-suppressor and was capable of emptying each magazine in just one-minute. Strictly speaking, the tripod mount was intended for naval applications, but it did the job perfectly, however, in my mind, I did picture the mount on the ' _Vigilante_ ' and ' _The Salty Swallow_ ', though!

I looked up at Kick-Ass as he prepared the weapon for action.

" _Now_ you _are_ a fucking Terminator!"

"I'll be back!" Kick-Ass growled.

* * *

Iron Hide headed back the way we had come.

Shadow and I were ahead, scoping out the roads. So far, nobody was out at what was approaching eleven in the evening. We knew exactly where the ambush was located and Fox had been able to confirm that it was still in place. Mia was being driven back through Gotham towards Queens Bridge and safety.

After a twenty-minute drive, Mist killed the lights and continued driving using her NVGs. We slowed as we closed and Kick-Ass prepared to lay waste to anything he saw that was the enemy. We would all stay close to Iron Hide, wary of the immense firepower that would be laid down. The weapon was loaded with 7.62-millimetre rounds of which every tenth was a tracer round.

At a distance of fifty-five yards, we stopped and surveyed the ambush. Five large SUVs were parked across the road, blocking it, and around sixty men were visible equipped with two M60 belt-fed machine guns and other automatic weapons. They were out to kill us, that was certain, which made me grateful for Kick-Ass' new toy. It also made me put Jackal in the driving seat and send Mist with Splinter to the right in a flanking attack.

I went to the left on my own. Our NVGs allowed us to approach our targets, stealthily. Once the attack began, Kick-Ass' first targets would be the M60 machine guns.

* * *

"Fusion, standby!"

We were all in position. I could see Fish standing over to one side talking to a large man. That bitch was going to die tonight, no matter what!

"Jackal, Kick-Ass – do your stuff!" I called again.

"Jackal copies – moving out!"

"Kick-Ass copies – locked and loaded – ' _Predator_ ' is ready to chew on those cunts; Mac and Blain had nothing on me!"

I laughed, quietly; Kick-Ass had already named his beast!

* * *

I heard Iron Hide move forward and started to see some movement among the gunmen as they heard the approaching vehicle.

Then the night was literally torn apart as Kick-Ass flipped the master arm switch and pressed the firing button. There was a brief whirring sound as the Gatling gun span up to speed in half a second before sending dozens of rounds into the first M60 machine gun emplacement. It sounded like a combined ripping and zipping chainsaw, and a red 'beam' caused by the tracer rounds, started at Iron Hide and ended at the M60, which blew up seconds later as the rounds hit the ammunition box. Kick-Ass switched targets and rapidly destroyed the other machine gun mount.

Men fled in all directions, some being cut down by the mini-gun, and others shot down by Mist, Splinter or myself as they tried to escape. Kick-Ass would only fire towards the SUVs, down the road to avoid hitting any of us, who remained to the sides, in the trees.

..._...

Jackal floored the accelerator and headed for the SUVs, first one and then another exploded as Kick-Ass applied short, fifty to sixty-round bursts into the vehicles. They may have been armoured, but not heavily enough to withstand that kind of firepower.

I called a cease-fire and the buzzing of the M134 promptly cut out, allowing Kick-Ass to switch magazines. The barrels were glowing red with the heat of the rounds that had been expended. Mist and Splinter returned to Iron Hide keeping a good watch for anybody coming around the back of Iron Hide. I went after Fish. I had seen her running to the other side of thbe road, but with the M134 carving up everything on the road, I had been unable to give chase.

Now, though, I had my chance.

* * *

Something was chasing me.

It had been a disaster. The carefully planned ambush had failed. Many expensive mercenaries were gone, all thanks to those pretty bastards! They would pay; I would make them pay. It was Maroni and Falcone's fault; they would pay too.

If I could just make it out...

The something was coming closer.

I came out of some trees, close to the road and then I felt a sharp pain in my left thigh. I fell to the ground. I looked down and saw a knife, just the thin metal shaft of the handle protruding.

I looked up and saw death as she approached.

* * *

I wasted no time as I swept the Katana from my back and severed Fish's head in one smooth motion.

Blood spat from the severed neck and I kicked the headless corpse down, and then watched as the blood flowed into the nearest drain.

"You done?"

I turned. It was Jackal, leaning out of the window of Iron Hide – Mist was driving. I looked up at Kick-Ass as he looked down at me.

"Yes, Jackal, I am."

* * *

 ** _Wayne Manor_**

We were all very tired by the time we had returned to the cave beneath Wayne Manor.

I was very pleased to see Mia off to one side. Marty and Hal were busy shutting down their systems and stowing their weapons. As I climbed out of Iron Hide, I looked over towards the steps where Bruce and Selina stood in anticipation of our arrival.

"Megan?" I asked.

"She's upstairs in bed. We got her out of her combat suit and Alfred put some stuff on her leg. She's in a lot of pain, but Alfred gave her something for that, too," Selina explained.

"Curtis?"

"Keeping an eye open for Megan," Bruce said.

"Thank you."

* * *

 ** _The following morning  
Sunday_**

 ** _Beneath Wayne Manor_**

Our time in Gotham was at an end.

I was more than a little concerned that we might be on borrowed time and I wanted Fusion out of the city as soon as possible and on their way back to the relative safety of Chicago, our home.

We were all gathered in the cave for a briefing, except for Megan and Curtis.

"We are leaving Gotham, tonight! I have had enough of this goddamn city; there is nothing more we can do here and we have almost met our objective. The man that shot Marcus is going to die, by my hand, tonight."

"Thank God!" Josh commented and there were other murmurs of ascent.

We spent the rest of the day packing and preparing for that night's operations. It would be complex, but it should all work out.

Everybody had a part to play, even Bruce.

* * *

 ** _That night_**

 ** _Beneath Wayne Manor_**

It was very dark by six that night, which suited us perfectly.

"Dave, Chloe, Josh? You three go after Jamieson and his family. Get them to the airport, once the operation is complete."

I pulled on my helmet, jumped onto my Panigale and then roared out of the cave, followed by Mist on her Streetfighter.

* * *

 ** _The Narrows_**

We knew where the man was.

We knew who he was.

We knew he was going to die.

The rest of the team were ready for us. We parked up in the dark alleyway beside the hulk that was Titan. Our target was one mile to the east and he would not be pleased with our arrival. I climbed into Titan while Mist kept watch until we were ready to leave. I had to check on somebody first.

"You ready for this?" I asked quietly, after removing my mask and looking directly into her gunmetal blue eyes.

Wildcat hesitated, looking back at me as she considered her response.

"Yes, I think so," she, announced honestly. "Thank you for allowing me to come."

"I had to let you; Marcus is yours too," I replied. "I will be going all out, so if you want to leave, you leave, understand me?"

Megan nodded as I pulled on my mask and she did the same.

"Ready?" I asked Battle Guy.

"For _your_ antics? Not really, but I'll manage!"

* * *

We left the motorcycles covered up and I took the wheel.

I liked to drive Titan; it was fun! Battle Guy was ready with his G-36C in his hands. Mist had her own G-36C and Wildcat had her MP7. It was not a night for finesse. It was get in, kill, capture and leave.

I pulled out of the alleyway and drove quickly towards the target warehouse. I decided to not waste time, as time was short. I slammed on the brakes and all of Titan's eight tonnes, skidded to a halt. Mist looked over and groaned as I slammed the transmission into reverse.

"Battle Guy; demon driver thinks she's in a damn demolition derby!" Mist called out as she grabbed hold of a convenient and essential handhold. Wildcat and Battle Guy did the same.

I mashed the accelerator to the floor and cranked the wheel hard over to the right. Titan's armoured and reinforced rear end smashed through the steel side of the warehouse. I kept the accelerator held down and Titan continued backwards, rolling _over_ the hoods of a pair of cars, putting them out of action. I then slammed on the brakes and cut the engine.

"Let's go!" I shouted climbing out of the driver's seat.

"The word 'subtle' mean _anything_ to you?" Mist demanded as we headed toward the rear hatch.

"No!" I growled back, but smirked anyway.

"I can tell!" Battle Guy added.

I looked at Wildcat. "Stay there!"

..._...

Bullets were smashing into Titan's heavy armour. Battle Guy inserted the muzzle of his G-36C into the rear firing port and emptied the full magazine into the warehouse in short bursts, watching through the thick armoured glass to ensure that he hit nothing important. Once the firing had died down and the rear hatch was opened slightly, I threw out four flash-bang grenades. Seconds after they all exploded, we jumped out, firing our weapons at confirmed targets. One man in that warehouse had a pass to live, at least for that moment.

Within minutes, the stunned opposition threw down their weapons. There, six feet away from me stood a very unhappy Falcone.

"I have come for him," I said simply, staring at the man who was cowering behind two large bruisers.

The man matched the photo that Voight had sent over a few days previously.

"He is under my protection," Falcone said conversationally, moving towards the man and turning back to look at me.

"Is that so?" I replied and promptly shot Falcone dead with a single bullet in the head. "Not any more he ain't!"

I walked past Falcone's body and over towards the skulking man and smirked as the two bruisers decided that they might just live longer if they walked away.

"Well, hello, dead cunt walking!" I growled and enjoyed the look of unbridled fear on the man's face. "We're going to be spending some quality time together, you and us. We're gonna have so much fun!"

I did not think the cunt believed me...

* * *

 ** _The warehouse_**

We were standing inside a standard forty-foot long, steel shipping container.

Bright floodlights illuminated the interior of the long steel box and the cunt had been dumped on the floor towards one end. He gazed anxiously at some hanging chains above him. The inside of the container was covered in a thick foam to prevent ricochets. On top of the foam that covered the floor was a thick layer of sawdust.

"What the fuck do you want?"

"You!"

"Why?"

"You shot some men, back in Chicago, and that is _my_ territory!"

"I'm n-not fucking scared of you!" The man breathed, despite the obvious signs that he was.

"No?" I growled back. "Do you know who I am?"

"You're that jumped up trollop called Hit Girl..."

"Right now, you can call me death!"

"You can't scare me... I have friends..."

"So do I!"

I turned to Mist and Battle Guy.

"Strip him!"

..._...

Two minutes later, after a lot of struggling, the man was naked and he hung with his feet just touching the ground. A chain ran beneath his arms. The ends of the chain were affixed to a hook above his head. He glared at me, but his eyes told me that he knew he was going to die, no matter what. The initial fear seemed to have faded and turned to resignation. I wanted to find that fear and bring it back out into the open.

"You two can leave if you wish..." I said to Battle Guy and Mist.

"Keep dreaming!" Mist said and Battle Guy grinned.

I looked over at Wildcat, who seemed a little unsure of things. I had a distinct feeling that she had never seen an adult male like that before.

"You sure you want to go through with this?" I asked quietly.

"I have to do this, for Marcus."

I turned to the man and smirked.

"Let's get this party started!" I said happily.

I pulled out my Glock 19 and put a nine-millimetre hole in the man's left foot; he screamed. I fired off another round and then another, both into the same foot which was rapidly destroyed. The blood ran across the floor, but was rapidly soaked up by the sawdust. The man shook with the pain and grimaced. Then he took a breath and spat at me, missing as I dodged to one side.

I was surprised as Battle Guy moved quickly forward and drove his fist hard into the man's left kidney, causing a massive bruise from his armoured gauntlet and immense pain to the man. Wildcat followed suit, putting all her strength behind a punch that smashed into the other kidney. Mist then stepped forwards, pushing Wildcat backwards as her four-foot long chain whip lashed across the man's bare back, each of the seven sections cutting deep and sending a rush of blood to the floor along with a few small chunks of flesh.

The man screamed and then lost consciousness.

"What are you two doing?" I demanded, turning on Battle Guy and Mist.

"We owe him for Marcus, too!" Battle Guy said.

"Yeah!" Mist acknowledged.

"Besides, why should you two get all the fun?" Battle Guy added.

"Get a bucket of water..." I suggested to Mist.

* * *

The man came around as the icy water splashed over his body.

"Time for more, chum!" Battle Guy announced as he shot the man once in each elbow.

The man bellowed and then he started to beg.

"Don't understand a fucking word!" I growled as I stuck tape over his mouth.

The man's eyes bulged in panic as I cocked a Remington Model 870 Express Tactical shotgun. I smiled as I pulled the trigger and blew off the man's right foot. Blood spattered across the back of the container along with sections of flesh and bone that had once made up a human foot.

"Does it hurt?" I growled, reading the man's expression. "Yeah, asshole, I get off on this!"

* * *

I had to get through it, for Marcus.

However, right at that moment Mindy was scaring me. I had killed and seen blood, many times, but right then was my first torture session and it was not even a torture session, Mindy was just having fun! I was more than a little freaked out at seeing a grown man naked, which had been a first. I steeled myself to get through it without balking or throwing up.

I watched with shock as Mindy grabbed the man between his legs and his eyes bulged.

"Not a bad set; shame you're never gonna fuck with them again!" She laughed.

* * *

It was time for some fun.

I looked over at Mist. "You think you could take it off?"

Mist looked at the man's items for a few seconds, nodded, and then stepped back. She changed the tip on her chain whip to one that was razor sharp on all faces. The man was sobbing and he started choking on something, so I ripped the tape off his mouth and allowed the vomit to escape. I also cast an eye over Wildcat who was starting to sway a bit.

I stood back from the man as Mist made a couple of practice casts. Then she let fly. There was a momentary burst of red in the man's groin as the whip snapped back to Mist and I stepped forwards.

"Almost!" I commented to Mist, noticing that there was still one testicle left.

The man's groin was cut open and blood was flowing freely. The pain was so much that the man was unable to utter a sound. He did not have long, but he was still conscious as I moved closer, ignoring the stink of vomit and other bodily fluids. I disabled the electroshock protection and ripped off my mask.

"I want you to see my face, cunt. Remember it, for when I die I will come for you in hell and I _will_ have my retribution again!"

The man tried to reply, but he could not.

"Wildcat – your turn!"

Wildcat stepped forwards, with her Wakizashi in her hand. She raised the blade and drove it hard into the man's abdomen, slicing it to the right and out again. A pile of warm, steaming, intestines spilled out onto the floor.

"Bastard!" Wildcat growled and stabbed the sword vertically upwards into the man's chest cavity, beneath the rib cage.

The man struggled for another minute before his body went still for the last time.

Marcus and his men were avenged.

* * *

As the man died, I suddenly felt an irresistible urge building in my stomach.

I dropped my sword and ripped off my mask, just in time, as I lurched over to the doors. Everything that I had eaten over the past few hours spilled out onto the floor of the container as I sank to my knees. I felt an arm around my shoulders as I wretched until everything was gone and my stomach stopped heaving.

I looked up and saw Mindy kneeling beside me; she looked very worried. I felt shame at what I was doing. A strong vigilante would not be chucking her guts up after seeing a man die violently. Mindy never did, nor did either Chloe or Erika.

"I'm okay. I needed to kill that man. I had to and I'm sorry I threw up..."

Mindy helped me stand and passed me my sword. I cleaned off the blade and replaced it in the matching Saya that hung from my utility belt.

"Save it; Shadow did the same, during her first torture session, too!" Mindy said and I smiled a little.

Mindy's expression said there was more, but she said nothing as we left the container.

* * *

 ** _Upper West Hill, Downtown_**

As we turned the corner at speed, we saw a black SUV parked a few yards past the house.

"Fuck!" Dave growled and we instantly went on alert.

Dave stomped on the brakes and the Audi S8 skidded to a halt outside the house. I immediately jumped out along with Chloe and Dave. We could hear a lot of noise from within the house, shouting and yelling. We all drew a pistol each and Dave leapt up the wooden steps and kicked open the front door.

There was a large man standing in the hallway; he had a pistol aimed at the kneeling Jamieson. I could hear the screams of the two children coming from a room to the right. The large man turned and raised his pistol towards Dave. I fired, catching the man in the head. He dropped to the floor and gunfire poured from the door to the kitchen at the end of the corridor.

We were not wearing our combat suits, so we needed to be careful. We knew the kids were in the room to the right, so I started firing my Five-seveN through the drywall of the kitchen, about three foot from the ground and swept the pistol horizontally. I heard yells and screams as my bullets hit flesh.

The shooting stopped and silence descended on the house. I dumped my empty magazine and reloaded. I ran forwards and kicked open the door to the kitchen. There were three men lying dead on the floor. One twitched, so I put him out of his misery with a bullet to the head. The enemy were dead, but one more man was soon to join them.

As I walked out of the kitchen, back into the hallway, I saw Ed Jamieson lying on the floor, blood pouring from his stomach and chest. The man had only seconds to live. Chloe ran into the living room and swept up both kids, keeping their eyes away from their fallen father. I followed and saw that there were three large bags packed and ready. I seized all three and followed Chloe out of the house.

I passed Dave who was down on one knee holding Jamieson's hand as he lay bleeding.

* * *

I was furious; this was not supposed to be happening.

Blood gurgled from the man's mouth as he forced out his final words.

"Promise me that my kids will be looked after. Make sure that they know about me at the right time. Promise me that you will keep them safe..."

"As if they were my own, Ed. As if they were my own...," I promised.

It was a promise that I would keep, no matter what. I also vowed to avenge the man, maybe not that night, but he would be avenged.

"Thank you..."

* * *

Dave came out of the house a minute later as I was dumping the bags in the boot; I hated using the word 'trunk'!

I looked hopefully at Dave, but he simply shook his head and I could see the sorrow in his eyes as he holstered his pistol and climbed in behind the wheel. Chloe was in the back with the twins and she had them strapped in securely. I moved to jump in the front just as another black SUV came around the corner behind us. I fired half a dozen rounds at the vehicle, which slammed on its brakes. The SUV was unarmoured and there was steam pouring from the destroyed radiator.

"Floor it, Dave!" I yelled as I jumped in and slammed the door.

He did and with a throaty roar, the big four-litre biturbo engine of the S8 dug down deep, shifting rapidly through the gears as it accelerated the vehicle away, rapidly reaching eighty-miles-per hour.

* * *

 ** _Gotham International Airport_**

Dave swept through the empty security checkpoint at speed.

Somehow, Fox had arranged it; that man was capable of anything! We headed for the executive section of the airport and a large hanger with 'Wayne Enterprises' over the door. The sleek executive jet was waiting with one engine already running as we pulled up. It was approaching nine-thirty.

Mindy was onboard, in ordinary clothes, and standing at the top of the boarding steps. We all jumped out as soon as Dave stopped the car. I grabbed the bags from the boot and handed them up to Mindy who passed them towards the back of the plane. Chloe helped the twins up the steps and onboard the jet.

I blew a quick kiss to Chloe and waved as the steps were raised and the second engine spooled up. Dave and I drove off directly as the aircraft began to taxi for immediate take-off. Chloe and Mindy, along with Megan, Curtis and the twins were taking the Wayne Enterprises G450 jet direct to Chicago from Gotham International. They would be back home in the next two hours. For us, it would be late tomorrow sometime.

We headed for the warehouse. Dave would be driving the big-rig back to Chicago, with me for company. Erika, along with Tommy, were taking the SUV back to Chicago. Marty and Abby would be driving Mia.

Many emotions flooded through me as we headed for the warehouse, as I knew that the hell that had been the previous four weeks was almost over. It had been an emotional goodbye at Wayne Manor earlier that evening. Alfred, Bruce and Selina were all sad to see us leave. On a more positive note though, the three of them would be joining us in Chicago, in a few weeks. Bruce and Selina would be starting their training – not sure that they realised what they are getting themselves into there. Selina was also, legally, the ward of Alfred Pennyworth. She would remain as Selina Kyle and stay at Wayne Manor. Since our arrival at Wayne Manor, most of Selina's, wild street-kid side had vanished. She was enjoying sleeping in a proper bed and having people that cared about her; she now desperately wanted to be a vigilante, too, thanks to us.

Unfortunately, not everything that had occurred in Gotham had been good.

I would _not_ be sorry to say goodbye to Gotham. Not by a fucking long shot!

* * *

 **Author's Note:** _That is the end of **The Gotham Vigilantes**. _ At this point, though, y _ou are strongly advised to read the story: **Forsaken**_ , _for the next events in the **Forsaken** timeline, starting from Chapter 178._


End file.
